A Kitsap County judge recently ruled in a nursing home wrongful death case, Sharp v. Life Care Centers, that punitive damages may apply to the Tennessee corporate defendants in that case, Life Care Centers of America and Cascade Medical Investors.  The Friedman Rubin firm represents the plaintiff in that case, who died following a one-month stay at defendants’ Port Townsend skilled nursing facility.

Judge Dalton’s reasoning in that case will be helpful to other plaintiff attorneys in Washington seeking to obtain punitive damages against out-of-state nursing home corporate defendants for egregious cases of neglect and abuse of vulnerable adults.  The availability of punitive damages is extremely important in holding nursing home corporations accountable in light of the fact that economic damages are often limited for elderly plaintiffs.