Opinion ID: 2637002
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Count IHoward Thomas

Text: Thomas, age eighty, suffered from senile dementia and Alzheimer's disease when he became a resident of the Koenig house. At some point in March 1995, Thomas and his roommate were not staying in their beds and sleeping at night. Instead, they would get up, ransack their room, and eventually fall asleep on the floor. As a result of sleeping on the floor, Thomas developed a pressure sore on his hip. The record reflects that such sores are common in older persons. The sore first appeared as a red mark in early April. By April 11, the sore was an open wound that required medical attention. Thomas' relatives were not advised of his condition until April 21, nor did any representative of Sleepy Hollow seek medical attention for Thomas' condition. Conflicting testimony was presented as to Vallery's knowledge of Thomas' condition. Vallery testified that she only found out about the serious nature of the sore on April 24, and she informed Thomas' son that his father needed immediate medical attention. Vallery admitted that Edwards had told her that Thomas was sleeping on the floor and that he had bruises but denied that Edwards ever expressed concern for Thomas' condition. Edwards testified that she notified Vallery more than once of Thomas' progressive condition because only Vallery was authorized to contact Thomas' son or seek medical attention for Thomas. In addition, on the audio track of a videotape of Thomas' condition filmed on April 11, Coleman notes that one of the purposes of the tape was to document Thomas' condition due to concerns that Vallery had not responded to Edwards' requests. Edwards was present when the remark was made and did not contradict Coleman. There was also conflicting testimony regarding whether Vallery viewed the videotape prior to Thomas' removal from the Koenig home. The State presented medical testimony indicating that when hospitalized on April 24, Thomas had a large infected decubitus ulcer with cellulitis on his right hip. The medical testimony also indicated that the ulcer created a substantial risk of death based on the possibility of blood infection, i.e., sepsis, and was a painful condition. The record reflects that the ulcer took three to six months to heal completely and caused permanent scarring. Vallery's medical experts testified that the ulcer was not infected or life-threatening but conceded that the ulcer, as depicted in the April 11 videotape, required medical attention.