Licensed Vocational Nurse Accused of Negligent Care Leading to a Patient’s Death – Accusation Withdrawn and Case Dismissed

Our office recently represented a licensed vocational nurse facing an Accusation from the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians following the death of a patient at a Senior Living Facility. The Board opined that due to her lack of timely escalation to emergency services (instead escalating to her supervisors and RNs), and her heartfelt apology to the patient’s family during the Board’s investigation, she was negligent in the care of this patient.

After initiating the case, and receiving the discovery from the Board, it became evident that the Board’s investigator had overstepped his knowledge base, and included research articles for their expert to review, prior to rendering an opinion. The research articles, however, were misleadingly not on point – but were the basis of the Board’s Expert’s opinion.

After parsing through the voluminous discovery, and retaining an expert with significant experience in both Skilled Nursing Facilities, Hospice Care, and Residential Care Facilities our office educated the Board’s attorney to their experts misguided reliance on the investigator’s research, and the differences between “allowing natural death” for a terminal patient with a DNR and “circumstances necessitating emergency services.” Following the Board’s expert’s “re-education” to the standard of care, the Board’s expert changed her opinion, and the Board was forced to dismiss the case.

Board investigators are not nurses or doctors, and generally they do not have any medical training or knowledge. However, despite this lack of expertise, their investigation can help spoon feed the Board’s expert to finding a deviation from the standard of care. When defending an Accusation of professional incompetence or negligent care, it is important to not only critique the expert’s opinion, but also the documents that the expert relied upon. If the Board’s expert is provided literature to base their opinion on, but that literature is purposefully misleading, their opinion could change after being re-educated to the facts of the case.

If you have recently received an Accusation for a deviation from the standard of care, you should contact an experienced professional license defense attorney as soon as possible, to help navigate you through the process and explore all potential defenses and strategies, while still available. 

** This information is a sample of past results.  Information provided on this website does not constitute a guarantee, warranty, or prediction regarding the outcome of your legal matter. Every case is different, and each case must be evaluated on its own merits. The circumstances of your case may differ from the results provided above. Legal Advertisement. **