The estate of a woman who died at a Southside Assisted
Living Facility filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the facility and two
employees facing criminal charges regarding the woman’s care.
Joanna
Neal, representing the estate of her mother, Lois Pruitt, filed the
lawsuit for wrongful death against Assistcare, Inc., doing business as
Woodland Place Assisted Living, and against its administrator, Caroline
Renee Burton, and employee Brooke Tuck Ragsdale.
According
to the lawsuit, Pruitt had lived at Woodland Place since 2014. When she
was admitted, she suffered from dementia, but was otherwise in good
condition of physical health.
“She had memory deficits
and moderately impaired cognitive skills; however, she was able to
communicate and express her basic needs and enjoyed her life,” the
lawsuit states.
Neal paid the facility about $1,950 per month for assisted living services and care for her mother.
A
hospice care nurse was employed by a separate entity this year to
provide care and treatment while Pruitt continued to live at Woodland
Place. The hospice nurse provided a comfort care kit to be kept at the
facility, should Pruitt need comforting medications. It contained
morphine and other drugs and sedative medications.
On June 19, 2018, Neal visited her mother and found Burton
and Ragsdale in her mother’s room, along with the hospice comfort care
kit, the lawsuit states.
“Immediately thereafter, Lois
Pruitt’s health drastically declined,” the lawsuit contends. “It was
later discovered that Burton and Ragsdale had administered a large dose
of morphine to Lois Pruitt from the hospice comfort care kit.”
After administering the drug, neither Burton or Ragsdale attempted to contact medical professionals/emergency responders.
Neal
learned of the “over-medication” June 21, the lawsuit states, when a
Woodland Place employee informed her of the events and circumstances of
June 19. She called law enforcement June 21 and her mother was taken
that day to Gadsden Regional Medical Center. She died June 22, the
lawsuit contends, “as a direct and proximate result of the
over-medication of morphine and/or the delay of Burton and Ragsdale to
notify medical professionals/emergency responders of Lois Pruitt’s
declining condition.”
Full Article & Source:
Lawsuit filed in Southside assisted living death
1 comment:
I love it every time someone sues these sob's. They need to be accountable and lawsuits, if there are big payouts, are the best way.
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