Current and former employees of an Ohio nursing facility are facing criminal charges after they left two patients to rot to death. The grand jury indicted seven nurses who worked at Whetstone Gardens and Care Center in Columbia, Ohio for mistreating the two patients. The ex-nurses are facing 34 charges, including involuntary manslaughter and patient neglect.
About Nursing Home Abuse
Placing an elderly loved one in a nursing home or assisted living facility can be a heart-wrenching decision. Millions of families each year have to consider placing a parent or grandparent in a facility where their medical needs and day-to-day living needs can be met. We would like to think that the people with whom we entrust their care will provide the same standard of care we gave, but, sadly, that is often not the case. In fact, nursing home abuse and neglect are becoming an epidemic in the United States, and what is taking place in these homes is despicable.
How Patients Rot to Death
The patients were residents at Whetstone Gardens and Care Center in Columbus, Ohio. In 2017, the first patient developed body wounds that developed into gangrenous and necrotic tissue. Nurses did nothing to help save his life. The facility finally sent the man to the hospital in March where he died five days later from septic shock. When the second patient had a similar situation, the nurses falsified the medical file and forged treatment signatures.
After the facility admitted the man to a hospital, the man died five days later on March 5, 2017, from septic shock, a result of the wounds. In a second case, the indictment says nurses falsified a patient’s medical file and forged signatures about treatments she never actually received.
Three of the seven nurses face involuntary manslaughter charges. In all, the six employees and the contractor face a combined 34 charges. Whetstone disagrees the nurses did anything that causes the patients’ deaths. As for the forgery, the facility said they learned of it during an annual review and immediately addressed it. Yet, help is available.
Get Legal Help
If you suspect your loved one is being abused or neglected, do not accept denials. Instead, contact a knowledgeable lawyer experienced with representing victims. We have been assisting the injured for 20 years. We help clients from all over the country. Our consultations are completely free. Call today.