Callis
A Madison County jury found for an Edwardsville nursing home after four hours of deliberation in a negligence case.
Defense attorney Dennis McCubbin said by e-mail Thursday that the verdict "recognized that the nurses at Rosewood Care Center of Edwardsville provided excellent care to the patient under exceptionally difficult circumstances."
Rosewood Care Center had been sued by the widow of a former patient who claimed the facility was negligent in allowing her husband to develop an ulcer on his left heel in December 2003.
The jury returned its verdict for the defense at 4:35 p.m. Deliberations began at noon, immediately after closing arguments.
The trial began Feb. 16 and lasted over a week.
Plaintiff Martha Flanary had alleged that Rosewood was negligent in violating its own standards of care in its handling of her husband, Gerald Flanary's, heel wound.
She sought damages of at least $50,000.
McCubbin went on to say in his comment that Rosewood applauded the verdict.
"The nurses of Rosewood Care Center of Edwardsville feel vindicated by the verdict and they are grateful to the members of jury," McCubbin wrote.
Rosewood contended that Gerald Flanary's wound was a symptom of underlying diseases including diabetes and peripheral vascular disease.
The suit was the second in less than a year in which plaintiff's attorney Robert Gregory and McCubbin faced off.
The two also tried a case brought against Rosewood by the son of a former patient who fell while at the facility and injured his hip.
In that case, the jury found for Gregory's client.
Madison County Chief Judge Ann Callis presided. The case is assigned to Madison County Circuit Judge Barbara Crowder.
The Flanary case is Madison case number 05-L-747.