The
widow of an Ocean County man is suing a Pennsylvania senior-living
facility, accusing it of negligence and wrongful death for sending an
81-year-old patient on a nearly three-hour Uber ride home across state
lines in 2018, during which he suffered severe medical emergencies.
According
to the federal lawsuit, Eugene Hamill moved into Twin Cedars
residential facility on July 6, 2018. Hamill had multiple serious health
conditions, including bone cancer and degenerative joint disease, and
was required to wear a cardiac life vest "due to cardiac complications."
The
lawsuit names former Twin Cedars administrator Tamara Singer as a
co-defendant, making the claim that Singer was the person who discharged
Hamill without providing his wife with advance notice.
On
September 11, 2018, Hamill was discharged, put into a ride share vehicle
and sent from the living facility in Pike County to his family's
residence in Toms River, the lawsuit says.
Over the course of the ride, the lawsuit said Hamill began vomiting and eventually became unresponsive.
The
complaint does not explain whether the Uber driver had sought earlier
medical attention, but said that Hamill had suffered both a stroke and
heart attack and required EMS transport to Barnabas Health Community
Medical Center, where he was intubated, placed on a ventilator, and
admitted to the Intensive Care Unit.
Hamill was then transferred
to a nursing facility, where he remained until his death on Sept. 26,
2019, a day before he turned 83.
His wife of 63 years, Jeanne Hamill, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Monday.
The
Pennsylvania Department of Human Services determined that Hamill was a
"victim of neglect due to the unsafe discharge," after a Sept. 13, 2018
inspection based on a complaint regarding Hamill.
Twin Cedars had
its license revoked in December 2018 for the failure to provide a 30-day
discharge notice, and the facility was then issued a provisional
license.
On written notice
of the violation, Singer said she disagreed with the findings, as the
situation was very "complex, with many different parties involved and
their abandonment of this resident."
Full Article & Source:
NJ man died after nursing home sent him on 3-hour Uber ride, widow say
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