Virginia Beach Family Files $50 Million Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Home Health Agency

The family of a 35-year-old man who died in a mobile home fire has filed a $50 million lawsuit against the home health care agency they hired to care for him, alleging they could have prevented his death. The victim, Josh Smith, has had cerebral palsy since birth, and required 24/7 care in order to live comfortably and independently in his trailer home. He hired Hand in Heart Home Health to provide 24/7 care. According to the lawsuit filed in Norfolk Circuit Court, the night nurse who was scheduled to work the evening of October 23, 2014 had a family emergency and called to say she wouldn’t be there the night the fire happened. The agency refused to let the nurse who was already there work a double shift, and failed to send a fill-in nurse, according to the suit. Smith died, along with his friend and roommate, who was also disabled and could not have gotten smith out of the mobile home.