$1.5 for Nursing Negligence
A Morris County jury on Aug 4 found a nurse and aide at an alcohol rehabilitation clinic liable for $1.5 million in damages to the estate of a patient who died after leaving the facility. Dennis O'Loughlin checked into Sunrise House in Lafayette on May 15, 2002 for alcohol detoxification. Despite medical advice, he left on May 17 and his body was found four weeks later in a wooded area 300 yards from the clinic.
Teri Nofer, O'Loughlin's widow, presented evidence that nurse Caroline Schmidt and aide Terry Poyer violated clinic procedures to prevent patients from leaving against their interests. O'Loughlin might have collapsed and died of exposure, but no precise cause of death has been determined. The jury assessed 80 percent of the damages to the nurse and 20 percent to the aide.
The plaintiff sought damages for pain and suffering, and lost income by O'Loughlin and Nofer, who now has to care full time for two young children. The defense argued that O'Loughlin had the right to leave and that the defendants did not deviate from standards of care.
- Henry Gottlieb, New Jersey Law Journal
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