Michael Hill Trial Law is preparing for two nursing home wrongful death trials in Mt. Vernon, Ohio. Both trials are against the Levering Management, Co. for the wrongful deaths of two of its residents at two separate nursing homes. Both cases were filed in the Knox County Court of Common Pleas.
The first wrongful death trial is the Estate of Nina Smith v. Levering Management Co., dba Country Court and the second trial is the Estate of Nora Caruso vs. Levering Management Co., dba Delaware Court. Rajnish Gupta, M.D. is also a defendant in both lawsuits. He was serving as the medical director for both Levering Management facilities and is being sued for his own role in the residents’ deaths.
Estate of Nina Smith vs. Levering Management Co. dba Country Court
The lawsuit filed in Knox County alleges that Country Country and its medical director Rajnish Gupta, M.D. caused 78-year-old Nina Smith’s death by allowing her to develop aspiration pneumonia and then failing to appropriately treat her or send her to the hospital where she could receive appropriate treatment. The lawsuit alleges negligence, medical malpractice, wrongful death, and nursing home resident rights violations.
More specifically, at paragraphs 51-63, the lawsuit alleges:
“Nina Smith was a 78-year-old resident admitted to the Facility on September 25, 2019 and remained a resident there until her discharge on December 31, 2019 to Knox Community Hospital.
Nina was admitted to Country Court because of her worsening dementia and required around-the-clock care.
Nina Smith entered the Facility for dementia care; however, she was doing quite well physically, including being able to walk independently.
When Nina was admitted to Country Court, she was not on hospice and did not have any terminal diagnoses.
Nina Smith was diabetic that was controlled with diet and did not have any major heart conditions.
Defendants were obligated to accurately assess Nina Smith for her risk of developing infections and implement appropriate interventions.
Defendants were obligated to provide adequate monitoring and treatment of Nina Smith’s breathing treatment, oxygen intake, medications, and hospitalization as needed to maintain Nina’s health and safety.
Dr. Rajnish Gupta was responsible for accurately assessing Nina Smith’s condition and taking appropriate action to prioritize her health and safety.
Almost all elderly people have some degree of aspiration or silent aspiration. This is simply that some small amount of saliva or food finds its way into the lungs. With appropriate oral care, the bacteria needed to cause pneumonia does not exist. Saliva and /or small amounts of food on their own will not cause aspiration pneumonia. With poor oral care, however, bacteria colonize in the mouth and travel to the lungs providing the bacteria needed for aspiration pneumonia.
Defendants allowed Nina Smith to develop aspiration pneumonia by providing inadequate oral care and nutrition services and then failed to adequately treat Nina’s pneumonia for nearly a month.
Nina’s aspiration pneumonia was preventable with appropriate oral care and nutrition.
Despite exhibiting symptoms of pneumonia as early as December 6, 2019, Nina was not hospitalized for her worsening condition until her daughter called 911 on December 31, 2019—nearly one month after Nina had become symptomatic.
Nina was discharged to Knox Community Hospital on December 31, 2019. She was diagnosed with pneumonia, pleural effusion, and acute congestive heart failure. Nina lived less than another week. She died on January 16, 2020.”
The lawsuit cites data submitted by Country Court to the federal government as part of its Medicare reporting requirements. According to the lawsuit, using the data submitted to Medicare, “Country Court was determined to be a 1-star overall facility, which is ‘much below average,’ 1-star for quality measures, which is ‘much below average,’ 2-star for health inspections, which is ‘below average,’ and 3-star for staffing, which is ‘average.’ ” The lawsuit also includes a screenshot from Medicare’s nursing home compare website confirming this information.
(Complaint at paragraph 38)
Since the lawsuit was filed, Country Court has not improved much. As of the time of this article, Country Court is rated as below average overall, much below average for health inspections, and average for staffing. The only area where Country Court is above average is for quality measures. However, quality measures are based on self-reported data submitted by the facility without any significant oversight by the government. There is a vast amount of research and we have published articles previously showing that these quality measures are grossly misreported and inflated by nursing homes.
(Medicare Nursing Home Compare data for Levering Management Co. dba Country Court, 1076 Coshocton Ave., Mount Vernon, Ohio 43050, https://www.medicare.gov/care-compare/details/nursing-home/365269?city=Mount%20Vernon&state=OH&zipcode=#ProviderDetailsRatingsContainer, accessed Mar 30, 2024)
The trial is scheduled for July 2024, after being delayed several times following Covid.
Estate of Nora Caruso vs. Levering Management Co. dba Delaware Court Healthcare Center
The lawsuit alleges that Levering Management, through its ownership of Delaware Court, and Rajnish Gupta, M.D. caused Nora Caruso’s death after she was allowed to fall several times and suffer multiple spinal, rib, and other fractures leading to her death. The lawsuit includes claims for negligence, medical malpractice, wrongful death, and violations of nursing home resident rights laws.
More specifically, paragraphs 57-65 of the complaint allege the following:
Nora Caruso was admitted to the Facility on May 17, 2019 and remained a resident there until her discharge on July 12, 2019 to Riverside Hospital.
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Facility Defendants were obligated to accurately assess Nora Caruso for her risk of falling and implement appropriate interventions to prevent falling incidents.
Facility allowed Nora to fall several times, resulting in injuries such as skin tears, a fractured pelvis, fractured ribs, and re-injury to her spine—a broken vertebrae.
The Facility allowed Nora to fall on May 26, 2019, June 10, 2019, June 12, 2019, and July 2, 2019.
As of the time of this article, Delaware Court is rated as below average overall, below average for health inspections, and average for both staffing and quality measures. Delaware Court is not considered above average in any area of nursing home care, according to the federal government.
Medicare Nursing Home Compare data for Levering Management Co. dba Delaware Court Health Care Center, 4 New Market Dr., Delaware, Ohio 43015, https://www.medicare.gov/care-compare/details/nursing-home/365676?id=d4fbf708-a4a0-4d34-925d-10cfb93eb19e&city=Delaware&state=OH&zipcode=, accessed March 30, 2024)
The trial is scheduled for October 2024. Like the other lawsuit, the trial was moved several times following Covid.
Who is Levering Management Company?
According to publicly available information provided by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Medicare’s nursing home compare website, Levering Management Co. is a for-profit corporation owned by various members of the Levering family. Those same individuals also have leadership positions in the various facilities they own, according to Medicare and the Levering Management website. This creates a conflict of interest between resident care and profits.
Levering Management Co., owns and operates 5 facilities in Central Ohio. Levering Management is headquartered at 201 N. Main St., Mt. Vernon, Ohio 43050.
| Country Court 1076 Coshocton Ave.Mt. Vernon, OH 43050 | Delaware Court Healthcare Center4 New Market Dr.Delaware, OH 43015 | The Living Center201 N. Main St.Mt. Vernon, OH 43050 |
| Morrow Manor St. Route 314 NorthChesterville, OH 43317 | Winchester Terrace70 Winchester RdManchester, OH 44907 | Headquarters201 N. Main St.Mt. Vernon, OH 43050 |
Who is Rajnish Gupta, M.D.?
According to Country Court’s website, “Dr. Rajnish Gupta earned his medical degree from the University of Delhi, India in 1985.” The website also goes on to say, “He trained as a surgeon and has a Master of Surgery and Fellowship from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow in the United Kingdom.” (https://countrycourt.com/management-team/, accessed Mar 30, 2024). According to the state of Ohio’s medical board, however, Dr. Gupta is in fact not a surgeon and does not have privileges to perform surgery at any hospital in the United States. According to the lawsuits, Dr. Rajnish Gupta is employed by American Health Network Of Ohio, LLC and is the medical director of both Country Court and Delaware Court nursing homes. He also practices family medicine in Westerville, Ohio.
Lawsuits in Knox County, Ohio
Despite being only a county of 60,000 people, Michael Hill Trial Law is pursuing four nursing home abuse wrongful death trials in Knox County. This is in addition to a $5,000,000 wrongful death verdict won against the Laurels of Mt. Vernon and its parent company Laurel Health Care Company in June 2022.
Questions About A Potential Nursing Home Lawsuit Against Levering Management Co. or Another Nursing Home?
The trial attorneys of Michael Hill Trial Law are nationally recognized and handle exclusively cases against long term care facilities. Michael and his firm, Michael Hill Trial Law, handle cases across the country. If you have any questions about cases involving Communicare or any other nursing homes, assisted living facilities, or group homes, you can contact Michael Hill Trial Law at www.protectseniors.com, by sending an email to info@protectseniors.com, or by calling (800) 659-2712.
