Veteran’s Home Under Investigation Again

The Tennessee Veteran’s Home is a nursing home for retired veterans of the military which five years ago was under investigation by the Department of Justice for failing to properly care for their patients, some of which they were found to have contributed in their deaths. Now it’s happening all over again.

In March of last year Thomas Grelen, an Army Air Force veteran, recently fell, breaking his leg in several places which ended up requiring that the leg be amputated. Several days after the surgery to remove his leg, the retired Staff Sargent died.

Despite notations in his medical chart that he was prone to falling, at the time of his injury he was being attended to by only one female technician, who didn’t assist him enough in his attempt to sit down on his bed. He slipped off and his leg severely broke, being pinned underneath him. He was left in this position until the paramedics arrived 20 minutes later.

Thomas’ family sued the Veteran’s Home for negligence, medical malpractice, and breach of standards of care, which opted to settle out of court for $245,000 (the family sought the maximum of $300,000 when they first sued) rather than go to trial.