ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Three Elderly Facility Residents Died After Drinking Cleaning Solution
Attorney General Weighing Charges Against Facility
One Walnut Creek Facility Worker Previously Arrested
Rob Bonta, California’s Attorney General may soon decide whether a Bay Area senior living provider will face charges in the poisoning deaths of three seniors who were under the facility’s care. Two seniors died last August at a facility in San Mateo and a third died at the company’s Walnut Creek facility after the patients drank cleaning solution which they were served as fruit juice.
All three victims were in the nineties and suffered from dementia. Families of dementia patients need to be vigilant in monitoring the care their loved ones receive and in making sure any facility in which their loved ones reside are qualified to take care of them and adequately staffed. Negligent care, physical abuse and neglect of a dependent person are all grounds for civil liability. Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code §§ 15610.57 (definition of neglect), and 15610.63 (definition of physical abuse). “Neglect,” under California law, includes:
(1) Failure to assist in personal hygiene, or in the provision of food, clothing, or shelter.
(2) Failure to provide medical care for physical and mental health needs. A person shall not be deemed neglected or abused for the sole reason that the person voluntarily relies on treatment by spiritual means through prayer alone in lieu of medical treatment.
(3) Failure to protect from health and safety hazards.
(4) Failure to prevent malnutrition or dehydration.
If you or a loved one is a victim of nursing home neglect or abuse anywhere in the San Francisco Bay Area or elsewhere in California call us today at (415)441-8669. Our toll-free number is 1-888-50EVANS (888-503-8267).
Attorney General Mulls Charges In Facility Deaths[1]
In two tragic incidents reported last year, a 94-year-old man residing at a Walnut Creek assisted living facility died after “ingesting toxic chemicals” which led to “a caustic injury to his pharynx, esophagus and stomach” according to the coroner. Three other dementia residents at a facility in San Mateo owned by the same company were poisoned days later when the company said their staff accidentally served a cleaning solution that they had mistaken for fruit juice. Two residents of the San Mateo facility died from the poisoning. Prosecutors in Contra Costa County and San Mateo County have been investigating the incidents and the Contra Costa DA has already charged one of the Walnut Creek workers on charges of elder abuse resulting in death. Families of the victims have urged authorities to charge the corporation owning the facilities, and the San Mateo Prosecutor’s Office has referred the matter to Attorney General Bonta for review.
Evans Law Firm Represents Victims of Elder and Dependent Adult Abuse
Always make sure the facility in which your loved one resides is qualified to care for them and visit as often as you can to monitor the quality of care they are receiving. If you have any suspicions whatsoever that your loved one is suffering any kind of abuse or neglect, or that the standard of care is poor, call us. Always act on your instincts. We will pursue any individual responsibility for the abuse as well as their supervising employers, agencies, and owners of the facility in which your loved one resides. Relief includes damages for pain and suffering, punitive damages where available and an award of the attorneys’ fees and expenses you’ve incurred in bringing your case under Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 15657.
Contact Us
If you or someone you love is the victim of any neglect or abuse in care facility in the San Francisco Bay Area or elsewhere in California, call Ingrid M. Evans at Evans Law Firm, Inc. at (415) 441-8669, or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. Our toll-free number is 1-888-50EVANS (888-503-8267).
[1] Evans Law Firm, Inc.is not involved in the reported case in any way.
