Life Care Center charged with manslaughter after neglecting a resident
Wickedlocal.com had a recent article about the wrongful death of a resident caused by the neglect and incompetence of the nursing home staff. This death was clearly preventable if the facility was not understaffed and the employees were doing their jobs.
Julia McCauley was a resident who on the morning of Aug. 17, 2004, rolled her wheelchair unattended out the front door of the Life Care Center of Acton, and tumbled down a flight of stairs causing her death. McCauley was not wearing a doctor-prescribed WanderGuard bracelet designed to set off an alarm and lock the doors if McCauley got too close to the exit.
Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office believes that McCauley’s death could have been avoided had she been wearing her electronic bracelet and that the nursing home’s parent company, Life Care Centers of America, is culpable.
Of course, Life Care Center officials deny any wrongdoing and refuse to accept responsibility. What ever happened to accountability? Life Care Center is charged with manslaughter and neglect of a long-term care facility resident. If convicted, the Tennessee-based corporation would only face a possible fine not to exceed $6,000.
Life Care operates more than 200 facilities in 28 states, including several that have come under scrutiny in the past. In 2005, the company paid $2.5 million to resolve allegations of billing Medicaid and Medicare for services that were never provided or were useless to the residents of a Lawrenceville, Ga., facility.
The Acton facility in the past was fined $2,112 in the fall of 2005 and $11,147 in December 2006 for various deficiencies found during routine state checks. In July 2007, state and federal regulators imposed fines totaling more than $164,000 for deficiencies that jeopardized residents’ safety. But the fines were rescinded after the facility promised to correct the deficiencies.
