Myers v. Heritage Enters., Inc.
Illinois Appellate Court
820 N.E.2d 604 (2004)
Nursing-home resident Mary Prillmayer fell and fractured both legs while two certified nurse's aides (CNAs) at Heritage Enterprises (Heritage) (defendant) attempted a bed transfer using a Hoyer lift, and died two weeks later of unrelated causes; her estate's executor, Michael Myers (plaintiff), sued Heritage under a state statute imposing liability for "failure ... to provide adequate physical or personal care." Over Myers's objection, the trial court instructed the jury on a professional-negligence standard (limiting its assessment to expert testimony) rather than ordinary negligence, the jury found for Heritage, and Myers appealed.
Whether, where a negligence claim is brought pursuant to a statute that imposes liability for care that is not "adequate," a professional negligence standard applies.