Closed Facility in Potomac Sued for $10 Million Over Alleged Elder Abuse (Maryland, USA)

Closed facility in Potomac sued for $10 million

State shut down assisted living home in August; suit includes new allegations

by Erin Donaghue

 Staff Writer

Oct. 2, 2009

Two residents of AAA Warmcare, an assisted living group home in Potomac that was shut down by the state, have filed a $10 million lawsuit against the facility and its owner.

The state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene uncovered alleged violations and suspended the facility's license after conducting an unannounced investigation of the eight-bed site on Aug. 5, according to a DHMH report. The report alleged that an elderly woman with end-stage Alzheimer's disease — one of the residents who filed the lawsuit — had tape and a rag tied over her mouth and was tied to her wheelchair numerous times.

The residents have since been removed from the facility, a 1,800-square-foot home on Gainsborough Road. Montgomery County police are investigating possible elder abuse.

The lawsuit, filed by Raymond and Elizabeth Tully, brings up further allegations. The Tullys, a married couple in their 80s, filed the suit this week in Montgomery County Circuit Court, according to William Askinazi, a lawyer who is representing the couple. The Tullys had lived in the home since 2008, Askinazi said.

The lawsuit alleges that:

-Elizabeth Tully was belted and gagged "with food on her plate at the dinner table but was not allowed to eat";

-She was "often allowed to wallow in her fecal waste";

-She was "slapped and pummeled" by a caregiver; and

-Raymond Tully was "scorned and ridiculed" by staff and forced to urinate in his pants on several occasions.

The suit alleges that the abuse came from a caregiver who was hired after being improperly screened by the facility's owner, Sreedevi Datla. The lawsuit claims the caregiver was illiterate, gave medication to the couple without knowing the prescription, and had "a violent background." The suit also alleges that the caregiver called for decreasing food rations to residents.

Abridged
SOURCE:   The Gazette Net
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