Brain Damaged Victim in Negligence Case Gets $1.6 M
November 26, 2008
East County – A woman who was permanently brain damaged after receiving treatment from a county-owned nursing home was awarded by the courts $1.6 million.
Ruth Lomeo, 44, of El Cajon will not be able to take care of herself and her 9-year-old son after suffering in the hands of nurses from Edgemoor Geriatric Hospital in Santee.
“She can talk, although she communicates now like a 5-year-old,” said William M. Berman, Lomeo’s lawyer. “She needs assistance with all the activities of daily living.”
Lomeo was admitted at the county-owned hospital in April 2005 because of Lupus. She was reportedly given an overdose of pain medication, which caused her to have trouble in breathing.
The nurses then waited 20 minutes before calling 911 whose paramedics arrived an hour and a half after the overdose. Lack of oxygen in her brain caused the damage.
Lomeo’s side initially asked for $2million compensation but settled for $1.6 million settlement, which was approved Friday by Judge Eddie C. Sturgeon of El Cajon Superior Court.
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