Nursing Home Charged With Manslaughter, Abuse, and Neglect of an Elderly Patient

Beth Janicek

Attorney
(866) 735-1102 Ext 395

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On April 17, 2004, Julia McCauley, 74 years old, wheeled herself into a stairwell and plunged to her death. In 1999,
Ms. McCauley was found unattended in a foyer in her wheelchair, was deemed an ``elopement'' risk and ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device. The device is called a WanderGuard and it will set off an alarm and lock doors if she left a specified area. But, on April 17, 2004, she was not wearing the monitoring device.

Attorney General Martha Coakley indicted Life Care Centers of America with criminal manslaughter charges because workers at the Acton Life Care Center acted ``recklessly'' by not ensuring Ms. McCauley was properly monitored.

If convicted, the corporation faces up to $16,000 in fines and could lose its license and Medicaid funding.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Nursing Home and Daycare Abuse.