Legacy Nursing and Rehabilitation of Tallulah — Local services in Richmond

A Louisiana state court jury has awarded $1 million to the daughter of a nursing home resident who died from infected bedsores during his 26-day stay at the facility.

After a five-day trial the 12-member jury found that the facility's staff neglected 84-year-old Leon Nelms, causing his November 2004 death.

Brown Development Inc. and D. Brown Enterprises Inc. own and operate the Olive Branch Senior Care nursing home in Tallulah, La.

Nelms' daughter, Everline King, sued the companies in the Madison Parish 6th Judicial District Court.

According to the lawsuit, Nelms was admitted to the facility in October 2004. King said her father had no significant injuries or complications from his declining health at the time. He did have a small, early-stage bedsore on his left hip, but there was no evidence of infection, she said.

The sore worsened, become infected, and Nelms developed another infected bedsore on his right hip during his short stay at Olive Branch. He also suffered dehydration, malnutrition and significant weight loss, dropping 16 pounds in one week, the suit said.

The left-hip infection allegedly became contaminated from Nelms' feces and spread into his bone, according to the suit. He was taken to a hospital Nov. 16, 2004, and died six days later from the infections.

The suit alleged medical malpractice and ordinary negligence. King sought wrongful-death damages on her own behalf and survival damages of behalf of her father's estate for his alleged pain, suffering and loss of dignity.

The defendants maintained that Nelms received good care during his stay at the facility. They said the left-hip bedsore was already infected and his health already was declining when he entered the home.

After a trial the jury awarded King $500,000 in wrongful-death damages and $250,000 in survival damages for Nelms' pain and suffering. Jurors tacked on another $250,000 for the facility's failure to clean Nelms' bodily waste.

King's lawyer, Kim Ramsey Norris of Nix, Patterson & Roach in Shreveport, La., said she was proud to represent King, who took her father in and cared for him for more than two years before he had to enter the nursing home.

"It was tragic for her to lose her father the way she did, just one month after he went to Olive Branch," Norris said. "It was a difficult and courageous decision for her to sue the...

If I could give ZERO STARS I WOULD!!!! This is the WORST PLACE IN THE NATION!!!! I don’t understand why they are still open!!!! My grandmother came out worst than when she went in. She was supposed to be rehabilitated after her stroke. She came out with no legs and taking meds that she never had to take before. This place let her feet get an infection and she had to get her legs amputated, they didn’t let us know (WE CALLED EVERYDAY) While there she fell out the bed and had a second stroke. She has a bed soar the size of two fists and a couple inches deep. We tried to get her home to a facility but they wouldn’t let us. Fast forward, she’s closer and the paperwork is all wrong nothing they said is true. She has no legs they said she has one. Her new doctor told us to SUE this facility!!!! But my grandmother told us that they would PUT PILLOWS OVER HER HEAD AND TELL HER TO GO TO SLEEP!!!! she said so much more about how she was being MISTREATED!!!!IM SO HIGHLY LIVID!!!! DO NOT ALLOW THIS PLACE TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR LOVED ONE!!!! THEY SHOULD BE UNDER INVESTIGATION!!!! EVERYONE THERE SHOULD NOT HAVE A JOB IN THIS FIELD AGAIN!!!! From the DOCTORS TO THE JANITORS!!!! IF YOU WANT YOUR LOVED ONE DEAD THIS IS...

My first visit to this facility was anything other than welcoming. The dining hall was overrun with flies, food spills on the floor and tables. In my Mom’s room there was trash on the floor. It was so difficult leaving her in that environment. However, I did begin to see in the next couple of weeks a big decrease in the number of flies in the rooms and especially in the dining room. I have to give props to the nurses there. I only knew one of their names and it was Nurse Jazlyn. She answered our questions with true professionalism. She is to be highly commended for her dedication, commitment and compassion for our Mom and the other patients. One big issue was gaining access in & out of the facility. There was a code that was required and it was public knowledge. Sometimes the code worked and sometimes it didn’t, leaving visitors standing outside waiting to be coded in. I’m not sure what can be done to remedy that. Any one who’s up to no good can easily get...