Estate of French v. Stratford House

After Martha French suffered a debilitating stroke, she was admitted to Highland Manor Nursing Home. Martha, who also suffered from heart disease and diabetes, periodically experienced pressure ulcers. After three years, Martha’s daughter, Kimberly French (plaintiff), moved Martha to Stratford House (Stratford) (defendant), a long-term care facility. Martha’s transfer and admission paperwork notified Stratford of her susceptibility to pressure ulcers, and Stratford developed a care plan that required staff to reposition Martha regularly, clean her promptly after any accidents, and ensure proper hydration and nutrition. However, Martha’s condition deteriorated at Stratford. When Martha developed a fever and low blood pressure, Kimberly moved Martha to Erlanger Medical Center (Erlanger) for treatment. An intake assessment revealed that Martha had a urinary-tract infection and multiple infected pressure ulcers. Martha died three days later. Kimberly was appointed as the administratrix to represent Martha’s estate (plaintiff). In her role as administratrix, Kimberly sued Stratford, asserting claims for ordinary negligence, negligence per se, and violations of the Tennessee Adult Protection Act. The negligence per se claims argued that Stratford was presumed to have breached its duty of care to Martha because it failed to comply with federal and state regulations governing nursing homes. The trial court concluded that Kimberly’s negligence claims constituted medical-malpractice claims. The court therefore granted summary judgment in Stratford’s favor, holding that the Tennessee Medical Malpractice Act governed and precluded Kimberly’s claims for negligence per se and Tennessee Adult Protection Act violations. The court of appeals affirmed, and Kimberly appealed.