NEOSHO, Mo.--- Standing Monday afternoon on the steps of the Newton County Courthouse, Heather Dominiak said there is no vindication for the death of her uncle, Rex E. "Tony" Riggs Jr.

But, those responsible for his premature and horrific death, she said, have been held accountable.

"We have hurt them in the place they revere the most: their pocketbook," she said, "But, until it becomes more expensive to litigate than to provide better care in our nursing homes, I do not think a change for the better will come."

Dominiak and members of her family announced that a recovery had been reached with Beverly Enterprises of Fort Smith, Ark., in connection with a wrongful-death suit filed on behalf of Riggs, a patient at Beverly Healthcare of Neosho.

The circumstances of his death have not gone unnoticed. The Department of Veterans Affairs, which placed Riggs in the nursing home, is coming under increasing governmental scrutiny for its oversight of nursing homes that house U.S. veterans.

Riggs' death prompted U.S. Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo., ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Veterans Affairs, to introduce legislation this fall calling for increased scrutiny.

The legislation was initiated after a July 2001 report by the Government Accounting Office concluded that the Department of Veterans Affairs could not ensure that all veterans in private nursing homes received standards of care established by the agency. Riggs, who served in the Army in the 1960s, was cited in that report.

Said Bond: "Rex was one veteran who was lost in the VA health-care system. The nation has a solemn duty to protect America's veterans from abuse and neglect, and to ensure they receive quality health care each and every day of their lives."

"If we are failing our veterans, I fear for the plight of all nursing homes resident."

In fiscal 2000, the Department of Veterans Affairs spent about $1.9 billion -- or about 10 percent of its health-care budget -- to provide nursing home care to veterans.

Riggs used a walker to pull himself through the doors of Beverly Healthcare of Neosho on September 3, 1999. Six weeks later, the 57-year-old disabled veteran would be dead of complications stemming from gangrene.

While he was a patient at Beverly, his genitals and lower abdomen became infected with gangrene. A month after he was admitted, his penis and scrotum were surgically removed. Three days later, parts of his lower abdomen were removed. Soon after, he died.

Riggs was dependent on others because he was incapacitated by bipolar disorder, a manic-depressive illness.

Riggs' family alleged that negligence killed him. The lawsuit claimed that employees of Beverly Healthcare of Neosho, 330 S. Wood St., violated 20 regulations governing skilled nursing homes, and performed eight specific acts of negligence and carelessness while caring for Riggs, during his six-week stay.

Tim Dollar, a Kansas City Lawyer who represented the family, said, "The family's wish is to improve care and the training of staff and staffing requirements at Beverly Healthcare so other families will not have to suffer the unnecessary loss of loved ones."

Jim Griffith, spokesman for Beverly Enterprises in Fort Smith, said the recovery was reached November 2. A hearing to resolve the recovery was conducted Monday in Newton County Circuit Court.

Griffith said a confidentiality agreement that is part of the recovery prevented him from discussing any aspect of the case or the recovery.

The dollar amount of the recovery is not being disclosed. The legal cap for such deaths in Missouri is $540,000. That does not include special damages for medial bills or funeral expenses, or punitive damages.

Said Dominiak: "Justice has been done in this case, but there is never any vindication for a wrongful or senseless death."

"Do I think we have held the nursing home accountable? I do. They were not exonerated."

Dominiak, a former Joplin resident who now lives in Chicago, Ill., said she would encourage anyone who faces a similar situation with a loved one in a nursing home to do a she and her family have done.

"That's the only way change will come about," she said. "When they know that people will not just walk away, they will change." We must demand a higher standard of care.

"These are our mothers and fathers and uncles. Someday, it will be us."