Las Vegas nursing home found negligent, man awarded $2.6M

A jury this week awarded a Las Vegas man more than $2.6 million in damages after a local nursing home failed to prevent him from falling multiple times.

Kurtis Roberts, 66, was admitted to Silver Hills Health Care Center in October 2020 after receiving brain surgery to treat his Parkinson’s disease, according to the lawsuit. Although he was labeled a “high risk” for falling, he fell down five times in just over two weeks while in the nursing home’s care. He also suffered a spinal fracture from one of his falls before he was transferred to a different facility, the lawsuit said.

“Despite recognizing Kurtis as being a fall risk, experiencing impulsivity following brain surgery, and having difficulty walking, Silver Hills still allowed Kurtis to fall in its facility,” the lawsuit stated.

According to the lawsuit, Kurtis’ falls were often “unwitnessed.” After Kurtis was discharged from Silver Hills Health Care Center, a medical provider found that his falls “impeded his progress in rehabilitation therapy,” the lawsuit said.

A jury on Monday determined the facility was negligent in its care for Roberts and awarded him more than $2.6 million in total damages.

An attorney who represented Silver Hills Health Care Center did not respond to a request for comment.

Noneconomic damages for medical malpractice cases are typically capped at $430,000 in Nevada, but Roberts’ attorney instead argued that the lawsuit was a negligence case, which does not have a cap for damages, according to a news release.

“The rationale was that it doesn’t take medical judgment to know that if someone falls, you need to be doing something to prevent it,” Robert’s attorney, Gerald Gillock, stated in the release. “This is a case of common, ordinary negligence, and I think it may be one of the first of it’s kind to result in this type of verdict.”

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240.