Suit seeks $2.3M from nursing home in death of 99-year-old Oregon man

EUGENE – The estate of a 99-year-old man who died in an Oregon nursing home seeks $2.3 million in a negligence lawsuit against the facility.

The lawsuit filed in Lane County says Esbert James Pickering fell out of bed and broke his hip two days after moving into Avamere Rehabilitation of Junction City. It asserts the injury caused his death less than a month later in April 2017.

Lawrence Lopardo, general counsel for Avamere, told the Register-Guard on Thursday that privacy laws prevent him from commenting on anything involving a patient.

The lawsuit says nursing home employees knew about Pickering’s tendency to fall and failed to take appropriate precautions, such as placing alarm-equipped floor mats on both sides of his bed.