Monday, March 3, 2014

AG Schneiderman Announces Arrests Of Suffolk County Nursing Home Employees And Lawsuit Against The Home's Owners Alleging Pattern Of Neglect

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced the arrests of nine employees of the Medford Multicare Center for Living, Inc. in Medford, New York. Seven of the arrests are in connection with the 2012 death of a 72-year-old resident who was at the facility for what was supposed to be temporary rehabilitation. The corporation operating the home and the facility’s top administrator were also charged with trying to cover up the circumstances surrounding the death. The Attorney General separately filed a civil lawsuit today charging the home’s owners with fraud, based on a long history of criminal conduct by employees of the home, and corporate looting.

“Nursing home residents are among our state’s most vulnerable citizens,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “Today’s arrests and lawsuit send a message that we will not tolerate anyone being neglected or denied life-saving medical treatment while individuals line their own pockets with tens of millions of dollars that Medicaid intended to provide resident care. We must and will do everything in our power to protect our vulnerable nursing home residents from being preyed upon by those who are entrusted with their care, yet fail to fulfill their duties to provide necessary care.”

The felony complaint charges Kethlie Joseph, 61, of Brentwood, with Criminally Negligent Homicide for the death of a 72-year-old resident who was residing at Medford Multicare Center. Joseph, a licensed professional trained in administering treatment to ventilator-dependent residents, admitted to never reading a doctor’s orders requiring the resident to be connected to a ventilator machine at night. As a result, the resident was not connected to the ventilator when she went to sleep, and she died that night. Joseph not only ignored alarms for more than two hours, but also ignored messages to her pager when the resident stopped breathing. Furthermore, video surveillance captured Joseph walking toward her office and not reappearing until hours later. Only after an unassigned nurse’s aide finally went to check on the resident did she receive medical attention, but by then, she had likely been dead for some time.

Full Article and Source:
AG Schneiderman Announces Arrests Of Suffolk County Nursing Home Employees And Lawsuit Against The Home's Owners Alleging Pattern Of Neglect

4 comments:

Thelma said...

Keep after all he abusers, please!

StandUp said...

I am very happy to see this suit. Thank you, AG Schneiderman

Anonymous said...

Wow. This is the kind of Attorney General we need in Virginia.

Instead, we get Assistant Attorneys General who enable monsters like Scott Schuett to continue to operate for over a year and a half (March 5, 2012 to October 1, 2013) after his various licenses have been revoked, one after another, based on findings that he constitutes a substantial danger to the public health and safety.

Assistant Attorneys General who meekly go along with closing Scott Schuett's appeal hearing to the media, so that the public cannot find out about his hundreds and hundreds of violations threatening the safety, health and very lives of his 400 victims, literally over the course of years.

Assistant Attorneys General who say nothing, nothing at all, not a peep, when Scott Schuett falsely claims to be a licensed attorney in another state (his license was suspended years ago) and fail in their clear-cut, statutory duty to REPORT HIM TO THE BAR for his false statements and for his other documented misconduct.

Assistant Attorneys General who conspire with attorney staff of the Virginia Department for the Aging and Rehabilitative Services (Janet James, Esquire and Amy Marschean, Esquire) to cover up the involvement of state agencies and state-supported agencies in the Scott Schuett fiasco and to respond to complaints from the public by shooting the messenger, not by taking the necessary steps to correct these clear-cut violations or protect the public from this state-sponsored, state-funded abuse and neglect of the elderly and disabled.

Assistant Attorneys General and DARS attorney staff who coach members of the Virginia Council on Aging and Virginia Public Guardian and Conservator Advisory Board on how to evade and avoid troublesome questions about Scott Schuett, not how to shut him down and ARREST him.

What would happen if Virginia had Attorneys General as concerned about the elderly and disabled as the Attorney General in New York? I guess they'd have to arrest THEMSELVES.

Anonymous said...

Oh you're so right, Anonymous one. Put this kind of an AG in every state and things would straighten up.