In what is believed to be a record-setting verdict in Pueblo Colorado, a jury awarded more than $5.5 million for the wrongful death and suffering of Sophia Alcon, a resident at Life Care Center of Pueblo.
“It was an honor to represent this entire family on behalf of their mother. At the end of the day, we had a jury that really didn’t like this company putting profits ahead of patient care and then failing to come to Pueblo to answer for any of the poor care, gaps in the charting, and the staffing shortages, all of which led to a horrific outcome for Ms. Alcon,” said National Trial Lawyers: Top 100 Civil Plaintiff member Brent Moss, one of the attorneys for the Alcon family.
Details of the case are as follows:
• Plaintiff George Alcon was awarded a unanimous verdict of $5,557,066.43 in the District Court of Pueblo County, Colorado on Friday, May 13, 2016.
• Attorneys from Reddick Moss, PLLC represented Mr. Alcon in the lawsuit, which was filed on behalf Mr. Alcon’s mother, against Life Care Center of Pueblo, a nursing home, and its corporate parent, Life Care Centers of America, Inc.
• The jury awarded $500,000 in damages stemming from the wrongful death of Sophia Alcon, $57,066.43 in economic damages for negligence, and another $5 million in punitive damages for wrongful death.
• Both Defendants were held jointly liable for Ms. Alcon’s death after the jury concluded that the Pueblo nursing home was operated as a joint venture by Life Care Centers of America, Inc. and South Pueblo Medical Investors, LTD, a company doing business as Life Care Centers of Pueblo.
• Ms. Alcon’s son, and personal representative of her Estate, George Alcon, filed this lawsuit on January 30, 2015, against the nursing home and its corporate owner, Life Care Centers of America, Inc.
• Denver-based attorney Brent L. Moss, along with Brian D. Reddick and Robert Francis of Little Rock, Arkansas, all from the Reddick Moss, PLLC law firm, represented the Alcon family. Kevin Kuhn, Michele Choe, and Nick Boeving of Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell, LLP in Denver, Colorado represented the Defendants.
This verdict is the second multi-million dollar verdict in two years in Pueblo by the Reddick Moss law firm. The previous verdict was entered on May 22, 2014 in the case of Alice M. Franz, as Attorney-in-Fact of James Edmond Sharon v. SSC Pueblo Belmont Operating Company, LLC d/b/a Belmont Lodge Health Care Center, SavaSeniorCare Administrative Services, LLC, and SavaSeniorCare Consulting, LLC. In that case, the jury awarded James Edmond Sharon $300,000 for negligence and $3,000,000 in punitive damages jointly against the operators of Belmont Lodge Health Care Center, a nursing home in Pueblo, Colorado.