An Ohio nursing home is facing a lawsuit from the family of a 64-year-old man who allegedly suffered a fatal fall while trying to reach the bathroom. The incident reportedly resulted in catastrophic injuries, including a fractured spine and misalignment of spinal bones C1 and C2, which ultimately led to his death. The family claims that staff at the facility failed to acknowledge the severity of his injuries for 17 hours after the fall.

According to a newly filed legal complaint obtained by Law&Crime, a nurse at Caprice Health Care Center discovered Craig Latchaw on the floor and conducted what the family describes as an inadequate assessment. The nurse allegedly overlooked injuries to Latchaw’s head and neck before staff members returned him to his bed.

Latchaw’s family contends that the North Lima nursing home was aware of his high fall risk due to various health concerns, including decreased mobility, dependency on oxygen, and use of pain management and psychotropic medications. These factors were reportedly documented prior to his death in December 2024.

The complaint further alleges that Latchaw and his family often experienced delays in receiving assistance from the nursing home staff. It states that the call light for help frequently went unanswered for extended periods, forcing family members to search for staff to assist him with basic needs, such as using the bathroom. Such neglect allegedly led to incidents where Latchaw was left to soil himself, causing him significant embarrassment.

The lawsuit details that on the afternoon of December 12, 2024, Latchaw was found on the floor by two state-tested nursing assistants. After contacting a nurse, Latchaw reportedly explained he had fallen while attempting to reach the bathroom, yet the seriousness of his injuries was not recognized in a timely manner, the family claims.

“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.