In California state authorities are fining two nursing homes for negligent nursing care that resulted in two patients' choking deaths. The Escondido Care Center in Southern California was fined $90,000 and received the state's most serious citation over the death of a man who suffocated last November when food got caught in his main bronchial stem and windpipe. The choking death happened while the patient was eating beef with barbecue sauce, carrots, and mashed potatoes for lunch.
A doctor had placed the Southern California nursing home patient on a diet that was supposed to prevent problems while swallowing and chewing. While the long-term care facility's diet supervisor, a nurse, and a registered dietician had all noted that the patient was still having problems while eating, there are no records to indicate that the doctor was notified so that the patient's diet could be modified or more strictly monitored.
In another California nursing home, a 54-year-old patient with schizophrenia also died in November when he choked on a meatball. According to the California Department of Public Health, Raintree Convalescent Home was aware of the patient's swallowing problems when they served him the spaghetti meatball, which means that someone at the facility should have cut up the meatball so that the patient wouldn't choke on it.
The resident reportedly ran out of his room after eating the meatball and could not speak. A nurse at the facility unsuccessfully performed the Heimlich maneuver on the patient and paramedics arrived to suction the meatball from his airway. However, the nursing home patient was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Immediately after the incident, disciplinary action was taken against the nursing assistant and the cook. The nursing home said the cook failed to follow the instructions for preparing the resident's meal and the nursing home assistant failed to refer to the meal card on the patient's tray for feeding instructions.
Many California nursing home residents have specific dietary needs and feeding instructions that must be followed. Failure to follow these instructions can lead to injuries, deteriorating health, other complications, and accidental death. This can be grounds for a California nursing home neglect lawsuit.
Nursing home cited and fined over death, SignonSanDiego.com, March 13, 2009
Fresno nursing home is fined $80,000 in patient's death, Los Angeles TImes, March 20, 2009
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