San Mateo nursing home faces lawsuit after resident dies of poisoning
SAN MATEO – The family of a 93-year-old woman who died after ingesting an industrial strength cleaning solution at the Atria Park assisted living home in San Mateo in August is filing a lawsuit, a spokesperson for the law firm involved said Wednesday.
Trudy Maxwell, a life-long resident of San Mateo, died of poisoning on Aug. 29 when she was given dishwashing liquid instead of juice, according to Atria, which said the mixup was a mistake.
Employees of the facility on South Norfolk Street called first responders around 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 27 after residents ingested the toxic chemicals. All three residents were transported to a hospital, where Maxwell died. Another man, 93-year-old Peter Schroder, also died as a result of ingesting the chemicals.
At the time, Atria issued a statement saying they were conducting an internal investigation, and that all employees involved had been suspended.
"We will continue working with the police and Department of Social Services to fully review and assess the incident, after which we will take additional actions as needed. The safety and well-being of our residents remain our top priorities at all times," said the care facility in a statement.
Atria officials could not immediately be reached for comment on the lawsuit.
"Two excruciating days after the poisoning, Mrs. Maxwell died," said Lee Houskeeper, spokesperson for Cotchett, Pitre and McCarthy, the firm representing the family. "Despite acknowledging the poisoning, Atria has yet to issue the family any apology. Instead, Atria has embarked on a disinformation campaign."
The plaintiffs allege that Atria served Maxwell a "cleaner which was more toxic than Drano."
The complaint also alleges that Atria had a similar poisoning a few days before at their facility in Contra Costa County, "yet took no corrective measures."
Niall McCarthy from the law firm representing Maxwell's family is an elder abuse attorney of 30 years in San Mateo County. He said he's seen repeated, egregious cases of elder abuse in San Mateo County specifically, mostly stemming from understaffing and facilities' inability to properly train staff.
"There's no conceivable way that dishwashing liquid should make its way to a beverage glass. That's a violation of every basic principle of nursing home care. The most basic principle is you're there to protect the safety and well-being of the patient," he said.
Whether criminally negligent or not, McCarthy said the company still has responsibility for the actions of its employees, and can't just fix the issue by firing people involved.