Nursing home to pay for ignoring living will

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published March 18, 2007

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WEST PALM BEACH - A Palm Beach County jury ruled a nursing home failed to honor the living will of a 92-year-old Alzheimer's patient who didn't want to be kept alive by artificial means.

The Friday decision marked the end of the state's first prolongation-of-life trial. The jury found that the Joseph L. Morse Geriatric Center in West Palm Beach failed to follow the end-of-life directives of Madeline Neumann and that it should pay $150,000 in damages. The panel declined to find Morse's former medical director, Dr. Jaimy Bensimon, negligent.

As Neumann lay dying in 1995, rescue workers arrived and began reviving her. She was rushed to a hospital, where she died six days later after various lifesaving measures.

Neumann's granddaughter, Linda Scheible, said she wanted her grandmother's "unnecessary suffering" to send a message to nursing homes everywhere.