A Johnson Mathers Nursing Home patient that had a strict order for pureed foods only, choked to death within 10 days of her stay, as reported by the Herald Leader in Kentucky, and her estate has recently filed a lawsuit against the nursing home.
The suit alleges nursing home employees of falsifying documents that concealed their "wrongful acts" that led to the resident, L.M.W., to choke to death.
L.M.W. had been at Mathers for 10 days before she died. Per the complaint, she was allegedly left alone to feed herself when she choked.
The lawsuit has been filed in Nicholas Circuit Court by the estate's administrator, L.W.
The Cabinet for Health and Family Services' Office of Inspector General issued Mathers a Type A citation due to the incident, and the Kentucky attorney general will be reviewing the document.
A Type A citation indicates that a resident's life, or safety, was put in danger due to violations of state regulations.
The lawsuit states, "Employees of Johnson Mathers Nursing Home intentionally falsified the nursing record ... to conceal the wrongful acts and omissions that directly led to the death of (L.M.W.)."
Both the lawsuit and the citation contend that a nurse overheard L.M.W. "gurgling" when she was choking on her food.
The citation said that the same nurse left the resident alone and didn't report the incident immediately to other staff members. Instead, the nurse spent 15 to 20 minutes cleaning a dirty suction machine to be able to use it.
There was a clean suction machine ready and available, that was part of the facilities "crash" cart, which the nurse chose not to use.
When the nurse returned to L.M.W.'s room, she used the suction device but failed to save her life and pronounced that the patient was "gone" to other staff.
Moved via an interior corridor to an adjacent facility, the Johnson Mathers Hospital, L.M.W. died in their emergency room.
The nurse cited in the incident, J.F., is no longer working at the nursing home, per the nursing home administrator D.E.
General council for the Kentucky Board of Nursing, Nathan Goldman, said that a complaint had been filed against J.F. The details of the complaint, while under investigation, remain confidential.
J.F.'s practical nursing license is still active.
The suit is filed against Johnson Mathers Healthcare, also known as JMHC.
The nursing home has asked that the lawsuit be dismissed by the court. An attorney for the nursing home did not return calls requesting comment.
The attorney for J.W., John Hafner, also declined to comment on the upcoming litigation.
A lawsuit was also filed against the nursing home in 2009 in regards to a mentally handicapped patient that died after a fall. It was alleged that he was put to bed without caring for his head injury.
If you suspect that a loved one has fallen victim to poor practices while in a nursing home, resulting in abuse or neglect, contact a nursing home abuse lawyer today! Monetary compensation is often awarded to defray the cost of hospitalizations, medical care and funeral expenses.