Charges of Elder Abuse, Negligence After Dementia Patient Dies of Exposure
Bay City News
The family of Kenneth Chin, an elderly dementia patient who died last February, filed a wrongful death suit against his conservator Jewish Family and Children’s Services and the transit agencies responsible for his transportation: MEDSAM Enterprises.
After not returning home to his assisted living facility in San Francisco’s Richmond District on February 25, 2011, 73-year-old Chin was reported missing. His body was discovered on March 6 in Lincoln Park, and autopsy results indicated that he died from hypothermia.
Chin’s living relatives, represented by Ingrid Evans of the Evans Law Firm, gathered at a press conference on February 8, 2012. His niece Jennifer Chin said she remembered “lying awake at night, it was pouring and freezing… praying that he was indoors somewhere.”
Plaintiff alleges that the MEDSAM shuttle van negligently dropped Chin off at the wrong location, causing him to wander around San Francisco for days before succumbing to the elements in Lincoln Park. In addition, the conservator Jewish Family and Children’s Services did not notify Chin’s family that he was missing until three hours after the event – during which time it had grown dark, cold, and stormy. The family began a search immediately, but was significantly hindered by the delay and its consequences.
Chin says he brings this complaint in order to ensure that such wrongful negligence and tragedy never happen again.
