Saturday, February 24, 2018

Murder charge filed in fallout from video that shows nurses laughing as dying WWII vet struggles for air

Two nurses and an aide were indicted Wednesday in the death of an elderly patient, World War II veteran James Dempsey, who died pleading for help while in their care, WXIA-TV reported.

Dempsey’s family, of Woodstock, Ga., hid a camera in the late veteran’s room in the Northeast Atlanta Health and Rehabilitation Center which captured the night he died.

The video showed the decorated U.S. Navy veteran repeatedly calling for help, saying he could not breathe. It also showed the nurses failing to take life-saving measures and laughing as they tried to start an oxygen machine.

The channel reported that Brookhaven Police launched an investigation and on Wednesday a grand jury returned an indictment.

Loyce Pickquet Agyeman’s top charge is felony murder; Wanda Nuckles, a nursing supervisor, is charged with depriving an elder of essential services and Mable Turman is charged with neglect to an elder, the report said. Warrants were issued for their arrests.

The nursing home’s attorneys attempted to stop media news outlet WXIA-TV from getting the video, but a DeKalb County judge ruled to unseal the footage.

Nuckles told Dempsey’s family lawyers in the deposition that when she learned the veteran had stopped breathing, she rushed to his room and took over CPR, keeping it up until paramedics arrived, WXIA-TV reported.

However, the secret video showed that nobody was doing CPR when she arrived, and she did not start immediately. After the attorneys showed Nuckles the video, she told them it was an honest mistake, based on her normal reactions.

When the attorneys asked why Nuckles was laughing, she said she did not remember.

WXIA-TV reported the nursing home was told of the video in 2015 but did not terminate the nurses until 10 months later. Nuckles and another nurse did not surrender their licenses until this September, when the Georgia Board of Nursing was sent a link to the video by the news station.

Records showed the nursing home continued to have problems, including $813,000 in Medicare fines since 2015, WXIA-TV reported. It said the nursing home got a good inspection report in May, but still has Medicare's lowest score, a one-star rating. 

Full Article & Source:
Murder charge filed in fallout from video that shows nurses laughing as dying WWII vet struggles for air

3 comments:

Felicity said...

Good. I hope they are all shaking in their boots.

Carole said...

I can't believe anyone would be this cruel but they are and we are seeing more of these types of stories. It's sickening.

Anonymous said...

I have noticed at my mothers Ritz Carlton from Hell where my sister dumped her they were all very nice when the place first opened and now they throw the food out all at once so unless they guzzles it (Alzheimer's and dementia)it is very cold by the time they get to it and they are real mean to the residents that have to be fed. Then they hurry up and clear the table so they hang out and laugh and talk. Wendy's workers take there jobs more seriously. And I used to feel sorry for the caregivers but they wine and moan about how hard it is and how little they make. Well now that I am allowed to eat lunch with my mother I just sit and watch and they could care less.

work the next day but when I drive 3300 miles walk in and my mother has had an ace bandage on her arm she broke with the bone sticking out 4 days before screaming in pain. It broke because of her being in a wheel chair from a broken hip she walked on for 2 days before going to the hospitaland now has to be in a wheel chair but tried to get out and they were understaffed and I would not be surprised if they were not really baked as it is at night and my son tells me they run around naked and stuff(the residents)! I asked the social worker if that were true and she said well it alsheimers and dementia. I HATE NURSING HOMES AND THEY PAY OFF PEOPLE MORE THAN THE NRA AND IT IS MY GOAL BEFORE I DIE TO HAVE FEDERAL LAWS THAT ARE FOLLOWED AND NOT HAVE STATE GUIDELINES AS THIS IS WHY THE PARTICULAR CHAIN I AM TALKING ABOUT ONLY GOES TO CERTAIN PLACES SO THEY CAN PAY OFF THE PRIVATIZED DSHA AND IT SEEMS THEY ARE ALL OR MOST IN SANCTUARY CITIES WHICH IS OK TO AN EXTENT BUT DO YOU WANT SOMEONE UNDOCUMENTED WHICH MEANS THEY CANT DO REAL BACKGROUND CHECKS DEALING WITH YOUR ELDERLY FRIEND OR RELATIVE!THIS IS SO IMPORTANT WITH THE AGES AND BABY BOOMERS YET PEOPLE JUST KEEP SAYING IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME .. WELL IT SHOULD AND IT NEEDS TO BE CHANGED.