Home Health & Hospice Week
Murder Investigation Sparks Hospice Scrutiny
Beware family power struggles for hospice patients, or you may get stuck in the middle of an investigation like one California hospice.
A report by California Department of Public Health investigators blames Sutter VNA & Hospice for continuing to provide morphine to a patient’s caregivers despite nurses’ concerns that he was being overmedicated, reports the Sacramento Bee newspaper. The state initiated an investigation of Jerome Lackner’s death when the Bee published a series of articles questioning the behavior of Lackner’s caregivers — his wife and her alleged boyfriend.
The Davis Police Department and Yolo County district attorney investigated the wife and boyfriend for murder, but didn’t file charges, according to the Bee. Lackner’s daughter from a previous marriage filed a complaint about his death. The CDPH’s report focused on the hospice’s conduct rather than the murder allegations.
The report takes the hospice to task for miscommunications about the morphine during staff transitions.
A Sutter spokesperson called the Lackner case an “isolated incident” and pointed out that no fines were issued and that the state had accepted Sutter’s plan to correct any identified failures, according to the newspaper.
Home Health & Hospice Week
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