Nursing Home Giant Guilty in California Wrongful Death Suit

A Sacramento Superior Court jury has returned verdicts of wrongful death and elder abuse against the nation’s largest assisted living company.

The Sacramento Bee reported the trial now enters the punitive-damages phase for Emeritus Corp, a Seattle-based company with annual revenue of $1 billion.

A suit was filed on behalf of Joan Boice, an 82-year-old resident with Alzheimer’s disease who died shortly after leaving an Emeritus facility in Auburn five years ago. When she left, the newspaper says, Boice had at least four major bedsores that were listed as significant factors in her cause of death.

Plaintiffs attorneys argued that understaffing and lack of training represented a strategy on Emeritus’ part to cut costs.

An Emeritus spokesperson says the company stands behind the quality of care it provides.