Professional Negligence Law Reporter

Myron Loyko was admitted to Manor Care Health Services-Easton. Approximately nine months later, his condition began to deteriorate, and he developed painful wounds on his perineum, buttocks, and scrotum. He was transferred to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with gangrene and sepsis. Loyko, 78, died several days later and is survived by his wife and adult daughter.

Loyko’s wife, on behalf of his estate, sued the facility’s owner and operator, alleging claims for professional negligence, survival, and wrongful death. The plaintiff alleged failure to maintain adequate staffing levels, properly train and supervise employees, and perform adequate skin checks.

The parties settled for $150,000.

Citation: Loyko v. Old Orchard Health Care Ctr. Easton PA, LLC, No. 5:24-cv-0360 (E.D. Pa. June 3, 2025).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ member Leonard Haberman, Philadelphia; and Carolyn Hahn, West Chester, Pa.

Comment: In Holland v. Silverscreen Healthcare, Inc., 2025 WL 2349863 (Cal. Aug. 14, 2025), the plaintiffs sued a 24-hour skilled nursing facility, alleging that the defendant’s neglect led their son to suffer multiple falls, infections, and death. The facility moved to compel arbitration under the agreement the son had signed, which provided for arbitration of medical malpractice claims against the facility. The trial court granted the motion as to the plaintiffs’ survival claims but denied the motion as to their wrongful death claim. An intermediate appellate court reversed. The court found that the agreement bound the plaintiffs because their wrongful death claim was based on the facility’s neglect and was necessarily a claim about the manner in which a health care provider rendered professional services. The California high court reversed the lower appellate court. The court held that the plaintiffs’ claim must be submitted to arbitration only if they were raising a dispute about medical malpractice as the term is defined in the state’s Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act, specifically, a controversy regarding whether medical services were improperly, negligently, or incompetently rendered. A facility’s alleged neglect of a resident’s basic welfare and safety does not mandate arbitration, the court said, concluding that the plaintiffs here should therefore be permitted to amend their complaint. Consequently, the court remanded the case. Steven C. Peck, Adam Peck, and Joseph Klapach, all of Beverly Hills, Calif., represented the plaintiffs.