Lawmakers endorsed the state Claims Commission's decision to reward $600,000 to the family of a mentally disabled woman who died due to negligence at a state care facility last year.
Members of the Arkansas Legislative Council's claims review subcommittee expressed their condolences to the family of Brenda Mize, who died after choking at a human development center in Arkadelphia, and they agreed with the May decision by the Claims Commission to compensate Mize's family.
"[My sister] didn't get the care we thought we were getting," her brother, Brett Mize, testified Monday. "Choking ... it's a horrible way to die. ... There was neglect [at the facility]."
Mize, 47, had been at the Arkadelphia Human Development Center, overseen by the Department of Human Services, since 2006 after she was diagnosed with an intellectual disability; bipolar disorder; and dysphagia, a condition that makes it difficult to swallow.
A part of her supervision plan required her to be monitored while she ate because of her "known choking risk."
On February 9, 2013, a staff member saw Brenda Mize in the facility kitchen unsupervised. Mize was "rummaging" through cabinets and the refrigerator before finding a Danish and sitting down to eat it.
The staff member told her to leave the kitchen and return to her room, which she did, only to emerge minutes later and collapse in front of staff members.
A Department of Human Services attorney, Mark White, said family members thought their loved one would be supervised whenever around food while staff members thought they only needed to supervise Mize during established meal times.
According to attorneys representing Mize's estate, investigators from the Office of Long Term Care Intermediate Care Facilities for the Mentally Retarded found that the facility had 60 clients who were at risk of choking and that staff members were not adequately trained in life-saving measures, such as airway-clearing, to handle it.
State attorneys say that Mize's death prompted personnel changes and changes to care plans. Staff members are now required to lock all cabinets and refrigerators to prevent other patients from grabbing food.
In the complaint filed with the Claims Commission, Mize's family sought $1 million in damages for mental anguish, pain and suffering, wrongful death and negligence.
The commission, which was created to aid those who have been improperly harmed by the state, unanimously found that state staff was negligent in Mize's care. The commission described Mize's encounter with a staff member before her death as a "supervisory failure with tragic consequences."
In other subcommittee business Monday, legislators also agreed with a previous commission finding to deny a $2.5 million request from a family whose child died while in Department of Human Services care.
Thomas and Judy Freeman argued that the state agency broke its own rules and deprived them of burial rights by making the arrangements for their 18-month-old daughter Emily after the child died in June 2010.
State attorneys argued that Emily's parents forfeited rights by state law because they were incapable of paying for funeral costs and were estranged from the child.
In another decision, legislators reduced the $745,770 award recommended by the Claims Commission to road construction company APAC-Tennessee in September.
The company, which was contracted to do bridge and surface work on a 7-mile stretch of interstate in 2013, lost nearly $1 million it said was owed it by the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department because of delays.
The company argued the delays were the fault of state highway officials.
Ultimately, legislators reduced the award to the Memphis-based company to $495,000.
Metro on 12/16/2014