$2 Million Nursing Home Neglect Lawsuit Accuses Long-Term Care Facility of Failing to Protect Female Resident from Sexual Assault by Male Resident
A $2 million personal injury lawsuit has been filed against a US nursing home for its alleged failure to protect a patient with dementia from becoming the victim of sexual assault by a male resident. In April 2008, a nursing home aide at Health Care at Foster Creek found a 61-year-old woman in bed, naked from the waste down and crying, as 68-year-old Marko Chandler was allegedly assaulting her. Chandler, who also suffers from dementia, has a criminal history that includes robbery and waving a gun at another man during an argument.
The complaint not only accuses Health Care at Foster Creek of failing to protect the 61-year-old woman from Chandler, but the nursing neglect lawsuit contends that the long-term care facility did not contact the woman’s relatives or report the incident to police even though workers knew that her condition made it impossible for her to consent to any sexual acts.
Following the assault incident, the woman became prone to crying episodes and refused to eat. The nursing home neglect lawsuit contends that some 38 substantiated complaints of nursing neglect or abuse had been filed over a four year period.
Health Care at Foster Creek is one of the homes that received a below average rating from the federal government during its yearly performance review. Recent violations at the nursing home included failure to stop a resident from going into other residents’ rooms, failure to stop residents from assaulting other residents or urinating in another resident’s bed, and failure to monitor a patient who lost 30 pounds in 40 days while suffering from kidney disease because staffers did not ask him what he would like to eat.
Sexual assault crimes at US nursing homes is a serious problem. Attackers have included nursing staff workers, other patients, and visitors. In 2004, nursing home watchdog Wes Bledsoe told CBS News that after searching records in 37 states, he discovered that 380 registered sex offenders were living in US nursing homes.
As for Chandler, who was charged with unlawful penetration and first-degree sexual abuse following the incident with the female resident, he was not convicted of any crime. A judge found him unfit for trial.
Lawsuit accuses SE Portland nursing home of failing to protect resident from sexual assault, Oregon Live, December 29, 2008
Abuse In The Nursing Home, CBS Evening News, November 15, 2004
Related Web Resources:
Nursing Home Compare, Medicare Web site
