An Ohio jury has awarded $2 million to the family of Milka Simonoski, a former O’Neill Healthcare-Fairview Park resident who died after developing a urinary tract infection while living at the Cleveland-area nursing home.
The verdict, entered after a trial before Judge Spellacy in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, centered on state protections for residents in long-term care facilities. Jurors awarded $1.5 million for pain and suffering and $500,000 under Ohio’s Nursing Home Residents’ Bill of Rights Act.
Simonoski, 64, suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2011 that left her wheelchair-bound and unable to speak. She became a resident of O’Neill Healthcare-Fairview Park in 2020. Her daughter, Bilyana, held power of attorney and was closely involved in her care.
Family members said she lost as much as a quarter of her body weight between 2021 and 2022 while living at the nursing home. The medical concerns continued on November 17, 2022, when a urine culture came back positive for a urinary tract infection.
In the days that followed, Simonoski’s condition continued to decline. She became “agitated, inconsolable, and tried to climb out of her bed,” and was sent to the Cleveland Clinic Fairview on November 23, where she had entered septic shock. She died six days later.
The filings alleged that nursing home staff failed to notify Bilyana after the positive urine culture and as her mother’s condition worsened.
Ohio’s Nursing Home Residents’ Bill of Rights Act sets basic protections for people living in nursing homes. The law addresses how residents are treated, how they receive information about their care, and whether they can communicate with relatives, doctors, lawyers, and others involved in their well-being.
Jurors awarded $500,000 under the act after finding that O’Neill Healthcare-Fairview Park failed to keep Simonoski’s daughter informed after the positive urine culture and as her condition changed.
The jury did not find O’Neill Healthcare-Fairview Park liable for causing Simonoski’s death.
