Cleveland Jury Awards $2 Million Against O’Neill Healthcare-Fairview Park in Death of Nursing Home Resident
Verdict Includes $500,000 for Violations of Ohio’s Residents’ Rights Act After Non-Verbal Resident Lost a Quarter of Her Body Weight and Died of Sepsis
CLEVELAND, OH — Thomas Law Offices has secured a $2 million verdict against O’Neill Healthcare-Fairview Park in the wrongful death case of Milka Simonoski, a non-verbal nursing home resident who lost 25 percent of her body weight and died of sepsis from an untreated urinary tract infection. The jury awarded $1.5 million in pain and suffering and an additional $500,000 for the facility’s violations of Ohio’s Nursing Home Residents’ Bill of Rights Act.
The case, Laudato v. O’Neill Healthcare-Fairview Park, et al., Case No. CV-23-988895, was tried before Judge Spellacy in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas. Plaintiffs were represented by Lou Schneider and Tad Thomas of Thomas Law Offices.
Milka Simonoski entered O’Neill Healthcare-Fairview Park in October 2020 following a 2011 brain injury that left her unable to speak and wheelchair-bound. She required full assistance with every activity of daily living, including eating and drinking. Between September 2021 and November 2022, under O’Neill’s care, Milka lost a quarter of her body weight. The severe malnutrition that resulted left her vulnerable to infection and limited her body’s ability to fight off the infection that ultimately killed her.
On November 17, 2022, a urine culture confirmed Milka had a urinary tract infection. O’Neill did not inform her daughter Bilyana, who held power of attorney and was her mother’s primary family caregiver. Over the next eight days, Milka’s condition deteriorated visibly. On November 22, 2022, she was agitated, inconsolable, and tried to climb out of her bed. By the time she was finally sent to Cleveland Clinic Fairview on November 23, she was in septic shock. She died six days later.
“Milka could not speak for herself. Her family was her voice, and O’Neill cut them out of the conversation at the moment it mattered most,” said Lou Schneider, attorney at Thomas Law Offices and trial counsel for the family. “Her daughter was heavily involved in her care and visited her mother multiple times a week. When that urine culture came back positive on November 17, the family should have been informed. They weren’t. As Milka’s condition deteriorated and a serious infection took hold, the family remained unaware of the test results. By November 23, 2022, it was too late. We’re grateful that this jury heard Milka’s story and acknowledged the pain and loss it caused her. Milka was deeply loved by her family.”
“Ohio’s Nursing Home Residents’ Bill of Rights Act exists to protect people like Milka, residents who can’t advocate for themselves and are entirely dependent on the facilities that take them in,” said Tad Thomas, founder of Thomas Law Offices. “Among the most basic of those rights is the right to have your family informed when something is wrong. When a facility ignores that obligation, families have to be able to hold them accountable in a courtroom.”
Milka is survived by her three children, Bilyana, Vesna, and Alex Simonoski.
The Estate of Milka Simonoski is represented by Lou Schneider and Tad Thomas of Thomas Law Offices, along with Camille Harlan and Bobbie L. Flynt of Crandall & Pera Law.
Thomas Law Offices is a nationally recognized law firm headquartered in Louisville, KY, with offices in Cleveland, OH; Chicago, IL; Des Moines, IA; Cincinnati, OH; and Columbia, MO. Founded by Tad Thomas in 2011, the firm represents individuals and families in a wide range of serious matters, from car accident injury lawsuits to medical malpractice, product liability, nursing home neglect, and civil rights cases, and is known for its leadership in complex, nationwide litigation. The firm is committed to justice both in and out of the courtroom.
