case type: wrongful death

CASE: Burton v. Texas Health Enterprises Inc., 95-00828 (Dist. Ct.,
Harris Co., Texas)

jury award: $ 28.3 million (May 7, 1998)

settlement: confidential (June 1998)

LINIEL BARNETT entered Woodland Manor Nursing Home in 1994, at the age
of 78, after falling and injuring his shoulder, said plaintiffs'
attorney James E. Doyle, of Houston's Doyle, Rider, Restrepo, Harvin &
Robbins L.L.P.

He stopped eating and was briefly sent to a hospital, where a feeding
tube was inserted. "The feeding tube came out during his return to the
nursing home and the attendants put it back wrong," Mr. Doyle said. The
tube punctured Mr. Barnett's stomach, resulting in an infection that
ultimately led to his death, Mr. Doyle added.

His daughter, Reasa Burton, on her own behalf and on the behalf of Mr.
Barnett's estate, filed a wrongful-death action against Woodland Manor
and its owner, Texas Health Enterprises Inc. A Houston jury awarded the
plaintiffs $ 28.3 million, including $ 25 million in punitive damages,
on May 7, 1998. The case settled the next month, after mediation, for an
undisclosed amount.