Nursing home death leads to $26M suit

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The Houston's of Yorktown share good memories of Roper Houston. Ten years older than his brother Terry, a brain injury left Roper with the mental capacity of a child. Terry and his wife Sue told WAVY.com they loved and looked after him. The couple has countless stories about Roper's smile, his requests for candy, and his teasing comments that Sue should have married him instead of his little brother Terry.

On September 3, 2007, Sue got the shocking call that Roper had passed away.

For more than 30 years, Roper was a resident at a nursing home in Williamsburg. It had changed names and owners over the years, but when Roper died in September 2007, it operated as Ruxton Health of Williamsburg. In January of 2009, it was sold to another company that continues to operate the facility as a nursing home, but without affiliation with Ruxton Health.

In 2008, 10 On Your Side investigated complaints against Ruxton when another resident, Lorina Wiggins, died. A Virginia Department of Health survey showed Wiggins went to an emergency room at the urging of her family with severe bed sores. The same VDH report indicated a hospital physician said Wiggins had a deadly infection related to those bed sores.

Monday, attorney John Zydron filed a lawsuit against Ruxton Health of Williamsburg seeking more than $26 million.

Zydron told WAVY.com, "We're not talking about one fall. We're not talking about two falls. We're not talking about eight falls. We're talking about 14 falls in one year with all kinds of cautions!"

Sue said once she learned of the falls, she tried to remind staffers of the precautions in place to keep Roper safe.

"I started putting notes everywhere, the wheelchair, the bed, to put the tray across his chair so he wouldn't fall out. Then I'd go in the next day and there he would be again, without the tray."

Then, while on vacation, Sue got a call about the final fall. She said she was told, "'One of the aids lowered the bed, then turned away to go to the closet to get his clothes, and Roper fell and hit his head on the floor. It was just a slight fall, not to worry about it.'"

Three days later, Roper went to the emergency room.

Sue decided to head home, even though she said she was still being reassured her brother-in-law was fine. In another call to Ruxton, Sue said a nurse explained, "'We're beginning to think now that when he fell out of bed the catheter jammed, and that caused some problems. Now he's running a fever. There's blood in his urine.'"

Roper had only spent 12 hours in the E.R. being treated for what the Houston's describe as a urinary tract infection. However, an hour after her last call to Ruxton, Sue said she found out Roper was dead. She begged staff members to leave him where he was until she arrived. Sue told WAVY.com an aid greeted her and said, "'Oh, he was up and talking, then he was gone... But he died very peacefully.'"

When Sue saw Roper lying in his bed she said, "He was in a fetal position. There was a butterfly-like patch, stitches on his head. And there was this huge bump, as big as an orange."

Sue and Terry doubt Roper's last days were peaceful. Terry told WAVY.com, "I can only imagine the fall he had... We feel the fall was it, the damage had to occur during the fall."

Terry said filing the lawsuit seems "the only humane thing we can do...to let people know what happened. It appears this is the only way we can do it in a manner that it can be productive."

Zydron, the family's attorney, said his physician expert reviewed the medical records and concluded subdural hematoma (bleeding in the outer layer of the brain) was present, "and our doctor says that is what killed Mr. Houston."

That is what led to the lawsuit. Zydron said the facility knew Roper Houston's extreme risks for falling and had the means to prevent falls, yet, "They just intentionally decided we're not going to do it. We don't care about Roper Houston. We don't care if he falls."

WAVY.com could not reach the administrator in charge of Ruxton Health of Williamsburg when Roper Houston died. Calls to the management company for Ruxton were not returned. The company and the administrator have until the end of September to respond to the complaint.