Richton Park nursing home must pay $5.5 million in wrongful death lawsuit
More than four years after 85-year-old Sandy Brooks died under the care of Landmark of Richton Park Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, his family received news that a jury awarded them $5.5 million in a wrongful death lawsuit brought on his behalf.
Brooks was an honest, hardworking husband, father and grandfather who wore his heart on his sleeve, said his daughter Andrea Brooks, 59.
Though he had end-stage renal disease that required he receive dialysis three times per week, Andrea said Brooks was generally healthy and lived independently with his wife, Barbara, until he experienced a traumatic fall in October 2020 while watering plants outdoors at their South Side home.
Brooks faced intensive treatment for a brain bleed at Advocate Christ Medical Center and made progress before being transferred to Landmark for physical therapy Nov. 25, Andrea Brooks said.
'We were expecting him to come home, because (doctors) were like, 'oh, he just needs therapy, and then from there he should be OK,'' Brooks said.
Although COVID-19 era lockdowns remained in effect, Andrea Brooks said family members were able to regularly visit her dad at the hospital. That changed when he was admitted to Landmark, where he stayed for 13 days before he died after, according to the lawsuit, caregivers neglected to give him his required dialysis.
'We were not able to have any phone calls, there was no communication,' Brooks said. 'Nobody was updating us on anything.'
Sandy's wife, Barbara, contacted the nursing home up to 10 times per day, rarely receiving responses, Andrea said. On Dec. 6, the family was allowed a brief FaceTime call with Sandy, who was unable to speak, she said, and he was found unresponsive in his room the next day.
Sandy missed five dialysis appointments while under the care of Landmark, his family would later discover, prompting their lawsuit that concluded May 30.
'It appears that they were providing him some very basic care,' the family's attorney, Madison Cogan, said Friday. 'And by that, I mean they were going into his room, as far as we can tell. But as far as getting dialysis, that never happened, and I think that is what makes this so egregious. All it took is one nurse to recognize that Sandy needed his dialysis and that he wasn't receiving it.'
A jury agreed, holding Landmark and its management company, Infinity Healthcare Management of Illinois LLC, accountable for $5.5 million in damages for neglecting Brooks, whose need for dialysis was chronicled by the hospital where he was previously treated.
Landmark of Richton Park did not return messages requesting comment.
Cogan said the family had sought between $6 million and $8 million.
'It's really hard to put a number on a life,' she said.
Andrea said nothing has been the same since she lost her dad.
'This case, it made me relive everything,' she said. 'I could not believe the magnitude of how my dad suffered, and it just hurt me. It broke my heart that someone could just not care or not do their job.'
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
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