Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced the jail sentences of five former employees of the Medford Multicare Center for Living, Inc. in Long Island. The former staff members, which include two respiratory therapists and three nurses, were found guilty at trial in Suffolk Country Court this summer for their role in the death of a 72-year-old resident who required respiratory rehabilitation. Trial evidence shows the staff members failed to administer proper care, ignored alarms when the resident was dying, and then tried to cover-up their part in her death.
“The sentences announced today bring justice to the family of Aurelia Rios, the mother of three and the grandmother of eleven,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “Medical staff at Medford Multicare undertook the responsibility to care for Mrs. Rios and help her rehabilitate. Instead, the juries found that she was neglected and that the Defendants covered-up the true cause of her death, depriving the Rios family for almost three years the truth about what happened to their mother. This trial has put an end to the lies about what happened at Medford Multicare and is another example of how my office will continue to hold accountable those who neglect and those who fail to immediately and truthfully report the neglect of our most vulnerable citizens.”
The woman was admitted to Medford Multicare to be rehabilitated for a respiratory condition. Her doctor had ordered that she be connected to a ventilator while she slept. At trial, one of the staff members admitted to never connecting the resident to a ventilator before sleep because she did not read the order. On the night of the woman’s death, evidence shows that staff ignored respiratory and cardiac alarms for two hours and also ignored messages to their pagers after the woman stopped breathing. Video surveillance shows staff within proximity of the alarms and in view of monitor displaying alarms, but taking no action.
Furthermore, trial evidence showed the staff tried to cover-up the negligence by fabricating facts in nursing notes and hiding records from a Department of Health investigator. The records show that staff failed to address the alarms signaling that the resident has stopped breathing.
Earlier this year, the Attorney General filed a separate civil suit against the owners of Medford Multicare. The suit accuses the owners of corporate looting and fraud. The allegations stem from a long history of criminal activity among employees, and continuous evidence of neglect.
from Parker Waichman http://www.yourlawyer.com/blog/long-island-nursing-home-workers-sentenced-for-residents-death/
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