KALISPELL, Mont. - The family of an elderly woman who suffered for months while a drug-addicted nursing home administrator stole her pain medication recently reached a monetary settlement with a Montana nursing home.

After Berniece Bjarko died in January 2001, the family discovered that Wendy Wadsworth, an administrator at the Westside Care Center in Ronan, Montana, regularly stripped Bjarko's pain patches from her body to feed her drug habit, according to the attorney who represented Bjarko's family.

According to Bjarko's son, Bill Bjarko, his mother was stricken with dementia and crippling rheumatoid arthritis, could not complain or comprehend what was happening to her, and suffered through the last four months of her life without pain relief.

"We only wanted her to be comfortable and cared for at the end of her life," Bjarko said. "It gives me chills thinking about how she must have suffered."

Negotiated by Hagens Berman attorney Tony Shapiro, the settlement ends the Bjarko family's two-year struggle to bring their mother justice.

"This nursing home, like many other nursing homes, felt that those nearer to death didn't deserve humane treatment," said Shapiro.

Since the nursing home administrator was their daughter, the nursing home owners overlooked the administrator's prior drug problems when appointing her to the position, Shapiro notes. Nurses began to suspect her drug use shortly before Bjarko's death but were afraid to come forward because of her relationship to the owners and her marriage to the local chief of police, according to court documents.

"Simply put, the owners' negligence in hiring, retaining and supervising her aided the abuse of a helpless woman," Shapiro said.

Berniece Bjarko's crippling rheumatoid arthritis prevented her from caring for herself. Often confused and unable to identify where she was or what day it was, she could not sit up, or even move, without assistance, Shapiro said.

Doctors prescribed Fentanyl Transdermal pain patches to alleviate the pain. However, the frail, 60-pound Bjarko continued to suffer even after doctors increased the dosage to 100 micrograms, enough medication to sedate a 200-pound man, according to court documents.

The terms of the settlement preclude the disclosure of the settlement amount.

Unfortunately, what happened to Bjarko is not an isolated incident, according to national statistics. Nursing-home abuse cases are on the rise, increasing as the population ages and more seniors are in need of long-term care. Currently, an estimated 2.6 million people live in nursing or residential care facilities with two-thirds of nursing home residents suffering from significant cognitive impairment, making them ideal targets for abuse, according to published reports.

A U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform 2001 report found that, between 1999 and 2000, 10 percent of nursing homes in the United States were cited for abuse violations including physical and sexual abuse. Widespread underreporting among residents and families, regulatory agencies and health professionals suggests that the actual rate of abuse is significantly higher.

Tony Shapiro is a partner at Hagens Berman, a law firm with offices in Seattle, Boston, Los Angeles and Phoenix. A 1979 honors graduate from Colgate University, Shapiro received his law degree in 1982 from the Georgetown University Law Center. From 1987 to 1989, he was an assistant deputy prosecuting attorney for the State of Washington, where he tried well over 40 serious felony jury trials. Shapiro joined Hagens Berman in 2000 and was one of a handful of lawyers responsible for prosecuting plaintiffs' claims against the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company resulting from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, ultimately resulting in a $98 million settlement. He currently concentrates his personal injury practice on wrongful death and catastrophic personal injury matters.

# # #

About Hagens Berman
Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP is a consumer-rights class-action law firm with offices in ten cities. The firm has been named to the National Law Journal’s Plaintiffs’ Hot List eight times. More about the law firm and its successes can be found at www.hbsslaw.com. Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw.

Media Contact
Ashley Klann
[email protected]
206-268-9363