MADISON COUNTY, KY, April 23, 2010/PRESS RELEASE SITE/ - The family of an elderly woman said the falls, bedsores and infections she suffered in a Kentucky nursing home led to her death.

James W. Jennings hired Wilkes & McHugh, P.A. to file a negligence and wrongful death lawsuit against The Terrace Nursing and Rehabilitation Facility in Berea over the death of his grandmother, Eliza Jennings. The suit was filed in Madison County Circuit Court on April 1, 2010.

In March 2004, Eliza Jennings, an 89-year-old widow, was admitted to the nursing home following hospitalization for a left leg fracture. During her time there, she suffered at least four falls, one that resulted in her right knee being shattered. She developed several advanced-stage bedsores and infections, including E. coli. She had multiple urinary tract infections and skin rashes throughout her stay - signs that they failed to keep her clean and dry.

Eliza Jennings also had a diagnosis of chronic pain when she was admitted and was on pain medications throughout her residency. The knee fracture and bedsores she suffered at The Terrace caused her even more pain, but they never referred her to a pain management clinic.

The lawsuit alleges negligence, violation of Long Term Care Resident's Rights, and wrongful death by Berea Area Development LLC, which owns The Terrace, for failing to prevent accidents, failing to prevent and promote healing of bedsores, and failing to prevent infections.

Wilkes & McHugh, P.A. is a full-service civil litigation and personal injury law firm handling a wide variety of claims from coast to coast. While the firm focuses on claims where people have been injured because of someone else's negligence or wrongdoing, it pioneered nursing home litigation and has been fighting for elder abuse victims for the last 25 years.