Atkins & Walker obtains verdict against nursing home.

After being discharged from the hospital following a knee surgery, Julia Montoya had to go to the Rio at Las Estancias in Albuquerque for rehabilitation.  Rio at Las Estancias claimed to “offer a level of comfort and care unmatched in the area.”  This was not the case for Ms. Montoya.  In addition to an “unwitnessed” fall from her bed resulting in a femur fracture and a Hoyer lift bar being dropped on her head, Ms. Montoya experienced a deprivation of dignity when she was left for extended periods of time in soiled adult briefs and bathed only 15 times in her 223-day stay at the facility.

After counsel for Rio at Las Estancias took the position that Ms. Montoya’s claims only had “nuisance value,” Atkins & Walker Law, along with co-counsel, took the case to trial.  The jury considered claims of (1) medical negligence for the femur fracture and head injury and (2) Unfair Trade Practices Act violations for promising Ms. Montoya a level of care and attention it knew it could not provide her.  The jury agreed that the staff at Rio at Las Estancias was medically negligent and awarded $150,000.  The jury agreed that Rio at Las Estancias committed unfair, deceptive, or unconscionable trade practices and awarded $50,000.  Because the jury found against Rio at Las Estancias on the Unfair Trade Practices Act claim, Rio at Las Estancias will also be responsible for paying attorney fees for the time Atkins & Walker Law spent proving the claim.