The family of a 65-year-old Butte man says he had to have his leg amputated and later died as a result of poor care, negligence and elder abuse at a convalescent and rehabilitation center in Butte.
The family of Ralph Merry filed a lawsuit this week in state District Court against Continental Care and Rehabilitation seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. It also names Copper Ridge Health and Rehabilitation in Butte as a defendant.
Among other things, the lawsuit alleges that staff at Continental would leave Merry in urine-soaked sheets and wouldn’t turn him, and bedsores got so bad that a leg had to be amputated.
He was threatened and mistreated by staff, was left in a wheelchair and unsupervised for hours at a time and was in and out of the hospital, the lawsuit alleges. In the end, doctors at St. James Healthcare couldn’t get him admitted to a different nursing facility because his bed sores were so bad and he died there on Jan. 22, 2022, it says.
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“The doctors and nurses at the hospital reported to his family they had never seen such poor care and that this was clearly elder abuse,” the lawsuit says.
“This maltreatment took place over a period of two years and during COVID restrictions,” it says. “Ralph was isolated in a place with people he was afraid of and with a staff not providing proper care as ordered by his doctor and Ralph’s death was a direct result of the abuse and neglect he endured at both defendant’s facilities.”
The lawsuit references improper care for an infection at Copper Ridge but all specific incidents and allegations are aimed at Continental.
Brenna Anderson, director of operations at Copper Ridge, noted that the suit was void of specifics regarding Copper Ridge. She said she couldn’t comment on accusations in a pending lawsuit but said Copper Ridge looked forward to discussing facts with the plaintiff’s attorneys.
The Montana Standard left a phone message and sent an email seeking comment from Continental. The suit was filed by Lawrence Henke, an attorney with Vicevich Law in Butte, and is before District Judge Robert Whelan.
Henke says Merry went to Copper Ridge in August 2020 for weakness and a urinary tract infection and stayed there about a year.
“His stay there was lengthy and due to not receiving proper care for his infection, he was required to be admitted to the hospital at St. James Healthcare,” the lawsuit says.
When he was discharged, he opted to be admitted to Continental Care for recovery “as he believed he would receive better care there,” it says.
He was placed in a wing with a man who was a friend and his family believed he would be happy there. But he soon started having trouble getting nurse’s aides to turn him and help him to the bathroom, the suit says.
He called his family daily asking for help and they brought him food daily “as the food at the facility was so terrible and his dietary needs were not being met,” the lawsuit says.
According to the lawsuit, the following also occurred at Continental:
• Merry told a sister that one nurse’s aide — a big man — “threatened to punch Ralph in the face and told Ralph there were pills for putting people out of their misery.” That left him terrified, especially at night.
• A sister contacted Adult Protective Services and Continental Care about that and other incidents and Merry was moved to the psych ward. But his care “became even more deplorable.”
• Aides refused to help Merry to the bathroom or turn him and he developed bed sores, including a wound on his heel that required care at Community Health Center (CHC).
• He was left in wet bedsheets “and his skin became excoriated with lesions.” CHC ordered a VAC device to be used on his heel wound but staff would “borrow it” for others and it was once turned off for hours. CHC eventually took it back because it was not being used properly.
• After one of his hospital stays, he was prescribed antibiotics. But while Merry was on the phone with a sister, she overheard a nurse saying he was not prescribed antibiotics. “Rather than treat Ralph, the nurse got mad and threw down the phone in Ralph’s room and left.
• He missed several antibiotic doses until it was resolved after a sister contacted the director of nursing.
• His bedsores kept getting worse and out of desperation, a sister ordered and paid for a bed that would help Merry turn. A catheter was also placed to help keep his skin and bedding dry.
• But the sores on his left leg got so bad he had to have it amputated. The surgeon told the family it was a result of gross negligence.
• One nurse contacted a sister and said staff at Continental did not like Merry and they were ignoring his care and mistreating him.
• Merry became impaired, could hardly speak and was again taken to the hospital. No nursing facility would accept a patient with stage 4 bedsores so he remained there until he died.
The family members who sued on behalf of Merry’s estate were his mother and four sisters.
In the past, parents had to drag their kids inside for dinner. These days, parents have to encourage their kids to go outside, away from their technology.
Mike Smith is a reporter at the Montana Standard with an emphasis on government and politics.
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