Left inset: Craig Latchaw. Right inset: Craig Latchaw wearing a cervical collar to assist with supporting his spine before being transferred to the MetroHealth Medical Center’s trauma division after allegedly falling at the Caprice Health Care Center in Ohio (Michael Hill Trial Law). Background: The Caprice Health Care Center in North Lima, Ohio, where Craig Latchaw allegedly fell and suffered a fractured spine (Google Maps).
A 64-year-old man being treated at an Ohio nursing home allegedly fell while trying to get to the bathroom and suffered “catastrophic injuries,” including a fractured spine and misalignment of his C1 and C2 bones, which led to his death. His family is now suing the medical facility, alleging that staff “put him back in his bed” and failed to recognize he was hurt until 17 hours later.
“A nurse working for Caprice Health Care Center reported to Craig’s room while he was still on the floor,” Craig Latchaw’s family alleges in a newly filed legal complaint, which was obtained by Law&Crime. “This nurse checked Craig’s vitals and completed an inadequate and incompetent head-to-toe assessment, failing to notice that Craig had struck his head and/or neck in the fall. Caprice Health Care Center’s staff then picked Craig up from the floor and put him back in his bed.”
The North Lima nursing home allegedly knew that Latchaw was “at a high risk of falling” due to “decreased physical mobility” and his “oxygen/trach” dependency, pain management use, and psychotropic medication use before his death in December 2024, his family alleges.
“When Craig needed to go to the bathroom, he or his family would put on the call light to get help from Caprice Health Care Center’s staff, however the call light often rang unanswered for extended periods of time before facility staff came into the room,” the complaint says. “On occasion, nobody would answer the call light at all, and Craig’s family would have to go search for a staff member to help their father get to the bathroom. These long waits led to Craig soiling or urinating himself in front of his family, causing him shame and embarrassment.”
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On the afternoon of his Dec. 12, 2024, fall, Latchaw was allegedly located by two of Caprice Health Care Center’s state-tested nursing assistants, or STNAs, on the floor at the foot of his bed. The pair contacted a nurse for assistance, whom Latchaw spoke to about “trying to get to the bathroom,” according to the complaint.
“Following Craig’s fall, Caprice Health Care Center staff failed to recognize Craig’s declining state until approximately 17 hours later,” the complaint says. “On December 13, 2024, at 7:58 a.m., a nurse entered Craig’s room and found him to be lethargic and unable to verbalize or respond to any verbal stimuli.”
As a result of his condition, EMS was called to transport Latchaw to Mercy St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital’s emergency department. Paramedics indicated that he “sounded very congested and was coughing up yellow mucus,” per the complaint. He also had a fever of 100.4 degrees and a heart rate of 90 beats per minute, which his family says made him “borderline tachycardic.” He was also suffering from a bout of pneumonia.
“A CT scan revealed a new fracture of Craig’s spine, and a misalignment of the C1 and C2 bones of his spine,” the complaint alleges. “In response to these concerns, Craig was placed into a cervical collar, or stiff neck brace, to assist with supporting his neck.”
Craig’s injuries were “severe” and required care that was “beyond the means” of Mercy St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital’s emergency department, so he was transferred to MetroHealth Medical Center’s trauma division. Latchaw began having “trouble breathing” and became tachycardic three days later, with him being moved to the intensive care unit for respiratory distress on Dec. 13, 2024.
“Craig’s family met with an orthopedic spine surgery team,” the complaint says. “They were informed that attempting surgery on Craig’s spine would be very high risk and he was unlikely to have a good outcome from surgery, with a high possibility he would not survive the procedure.”
Latchaw’s family decided to pursue “comfort care” and he was placed in a hospice care center. He “died a premature death” on Dec. 23, 2024, with the Mahoning County Coroner’s Office listing the cause as being “complications of cervical fracture” and “unwitnessed fall,” according to the complaint. His family says the manner of death was ruled as “accidental.”
The family allegedly called Caprice Health Care Center to find out why Latchaw fell under its watch. Its director of nursing told them he “had a right to fall,” according to the complaint.
“Every resident has the right to fall,” the director allegedly said in a phone call to Latchaw’s family. “We can not implement interventions without a cause.”
The family’s attorney, Michael Hill, of Michael Hill Trial Law, tells Law&Crime that Latchaw’s case is ultimately about “corporate choices” being made that “put profits ahead of safe care.” He notes how the Latchaw family trusted the Caprice Health Care facility to provide a level of care that was “promised” to them.
“Instead, the facility ignored known risks, failed to respond when Craig needed help, and did not identify catastrophic injuries for nearly a full day,” Hill says.
The family is requesting a trial by jury and is suing for compensation “for the harms and losses sustained as the result of the negligence, recklessness, conscious disregard, reckless disregard, conduct by which — through heedless indifference to the consequences — the defendants or their staff disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the health care provider’s conduct is likely to cause, at the time those services or that treatment or care were rendered.”
Caprice Health Care Center did not respond to Law&Crime’s request for comment on Monday.
