VALLEY COTTAGE - The family of a retired piano teacher who broke her hip after falling out of bed at Nyack Manor Nursing Home more than five years ago has won a negligence lawsuit and reached a $300,000 settlement.
Palisades resident Gertrude J. Shapiro was in the nursing home recovering from an operation after a fall that had left her other hip broken, when the accident occurred in October 2001, her family's lawyer said yesterday.
Her family expected her to undergo rehabilitation and return to an independent life, said her son, Michael Shapiro of Sparkill. "But as a result of the second fall, she never walked again," Shapiro said.
Gertrude Shapiro died in January 2004 at age 93. She spent the last several years of her life at Summit Park Hospital, a county-run nursing home in Ramapo.
A County Court jury ruled this month that Nyack Manor was negligent in not making sure that the rails on her bed were used properly. Shapiro's family and the nursing home reached a settlement this week before a second jury could rule on damages, said attorney Robert L. Fellows of New City.
Attorney Richard C. Nigro of Smithtown, N.Y., represented Nyack Manor, a 160-bed facility.
"Nyack Manor is a fine institution," he said. "The case was settled to avoid further litigation."
Michael Shapiro said his family sued in part because he never got satisfactory answers about how the accident occurred. He said that during the trial, his lawyer, Sean Doolan of New City, showed that the beds in the nursing home were old, hard to operate and unsafe for a patient like his mother, who was at high risk of falling.
"There are no standards for beds in nursing homes," Shapiro said. "Old people just have to take what they get."
Birth Injuries
