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In the first New York State award against a nursing home to ever include punitive damages, a Brooklyn jury has ruled that the Brooklyn Queens Nursing Home must pay $19 million in damages to the family of a 76-year-old man who suffered severe neglect.

When John Danzy’s daughter went into the nursing home, he weighed 237 pounds. When his family took him out nine months later, he weighed 148 pounds and had developed more than 20 bedsores. Though his family moved him to another nursing home after discovering his condition, Danzy died six months later from a bedsore-related infection.

The panel awarded $3.75 million for Danzy’s pain and suffering, but tacked on $15 million in punitive damages, based in part on the allegation that the home had doctored records to try to cover up the neglect.

An FBI expert testified that about 100 different skin-check notes showing "G" for "good" had been penned over to show "B" for "broken" — an effort by the home to claim it hadn’t missed the horrific sores, Kelly said.

"Someone went back and wrote B’s over the G’s to cover their tracks, so they falsified the records, he said. "We believe that once they found out they were being sued, they went back and said, ‘How could we have G’s here when they guy has 20 sores?’ " –foxnews.com

It’s bad enough that this facility took such poor care of its patients, but falsifying its records to avoid taking responsibility for it is beyond reprehensible.

If you or a loved one has been a victim of nursing home abuse, please contact the Ferrara Law Firm to find out more about your rights. The government has found thousands of these types of violations around the country, and it is a national disgrace. There are legal remedies for you if you suspect any kind of assisted living/nursing home abuse or nursing home neglect. The initial consultation with an attorney who handles nursing home abuse case is free.

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