$2.5 MILLION AWARD vs. St. Charles Nursing Home

As seen in ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH March 27, 2001

Six Families Settle Cases Against St. Charles Nursing Home

They claimed that relatives' injuries or deaths were caused by neglect or abuse. The management company denies the allegations.

Six families who sued a St. Charles nursing home and its management company, American Healthcare Management, claiming wrongful death or neglect, settled their cases Friday for a total of almost $2.5 million.

Robert Jones' mother, Florence Jones, 84, had been in the nursing home - Claywest House in St. Charles - for 23 days when she died in August 1999 of complications resulting from a fall. Jones, 64, of St. Charles, said his mother required a cane and glasses to walk, but he found the cane locked in a nurse's closet and her glasses in another resident's medicine cabinet.

Referring to the company, Jones said, "You must hit them in the pocketbook to get them to the point where if they don't make changes, they won't stay in business."

Gloria Stringer and Joyce Theile said their mother, Ruth Cawthon, 86, died in the nursing home with ants covering her body. They said they felt as if they had nowhere to go after complaining to administrators and state officials, and would've given up if it hadn't been for their attorneys.

"There are people out there who will help you. You have to be strong and don't give up," Stringer, 69, of St. Peters, said outside the courtroom at the St. Charles County courthouse, where Friday's settlement hearing was held.

The families' attorneys from two Kansas City law firms - Bartimus, Frickleton, Robertson & Obetz; and Stigall, Humphrey, Lucas, Henry & Dollar. The attorneys' share of the recovery, not including expenses, is about $970,000. They spent about $10,000 on each case.

The president of American Healthcare, Chuck Kaiser, has said the company is the subject of a "lawyer feeding frenzy." He denies the allegations in the lawsuits - that the residents' injuries or deaths were because of neglect or abuse by employees. No one from the company attended the settlement hearing. Kaiser could not be reached Friday for comment.

Jones said he is not completely happy with the recovery because he would like to see the company admit wrongdoing and claim responsibility.

He and the other family members do not care about the money, they said. One aspect of the recovery that was most important to them was that the terms not be confidential and they could talk about their cases.

What they hope is that the case sheds light on the problems within nursing homes and improves care for others. Jones said he wants to see legislation enacted that will give the Missouri Division of Aging more power in inspecting and sanctioning nursing homes.

American Healthcare Management, based in Chesterfield, manages 11 nursing homes in Missouri and one in Illinois. Four other wrongful death suits are pending against the company - three that involve Claywest and another that involves Florissant Nursing Center. One other wrongful death suit involving Claywest was settled in October, and its terms are confidential. All the suits except one are filed by the same attorneys.

The incidents claimed in the lawsuits generally are alleged to have occurred in 1999, a time when Claywest was cited by the state for inadequate staffing and faced losing its license. The home was given a temporary license and fined $361,000. The company appealed the fines, however, and paid only about $128,000.

Edythe Beck, 74, died at the nursing home in May 1999. Her daughter Bonnie Thorpe, 55, of St. Peters, filed a suit claiming that Beck wasn't given food or water for five days and died of starvation. Her suit was settled for $400,000.

Thorpe said her mother would never had abandoned her if she couldn't take care of herself. So Thorpe promised to do the same for her - even though her mother had Alzheimer's disease and claimed she had no children.

"She brought me into this world and raised me, and I wasn't going to turn my back on my mother," Thorpe said. "I stood by her in life, and I felt it was only right to stand up for her after her death."