A lawsuit has been filed against a Michigan assisted living facility after a 60-year-old resident died from choking on her food. According to the lawsuit, cameras recorded staff members walking around the deceased woman for around an hour as her body slumped in a wheelchair.
The deceased woman’s daughter filed the lawsuit against the facility and several staff members on May 4, 2023. She is seeking damages exceeding $25,000. She said her mother suffered from Guillain-Barre syndrome and was on a prescribed mechanical soft food diet as her doctor had determined she was a choking risk when consuming solid foods.
According to the lawsuit, on April 18, 2022, staff served the resident uncut food consisting of waffle fries and a ham and cheese sandwich. Around 11:47 a.m., the resident began choking on her food, flailed her arms, then slumped in her seat and died. She then “sat dead in her dining room chair, with staff passing by her repeatedly, for an hour before a food service employee … finally stopped to see how she was doing.”
Before that, five employees had passed by the resident without checking to see why she was slumped in her seat or if she was breathing. It wasn’t until about an hour after the resident had begun choking that the food service employee and a housekeeper discovered she was not breathing, the lawsuit alleges. Even after that, no staff attempted CPR until around 12:53 p.m., according to the lawsuit.
Compliance Perspective
Issue
F805 says that facilities are to provide, and residents are to receive, food prepared in a form designed to meet individual needs according to their assessment and care plan. F808 says that residents must receive and consume foods in the appropriate form and/or the appropriate nutritive content as prescribed by a physician, and/or assessed by the interdisciplinary team to support the resident’s treatment, plan of care, in accordance with his or her goals and preferences. The attending physician may delegate to a registered or licensed dietitian the task of prescribing a resident’s diet, including a therapeutic diet, to the extent allowed by State law. If a resident’s attending physician delegates this task, he or she must supervise the dietitian and remains responsible for the resident’s care even if the task is delegated. The physician can modify a diet order with a subsequent order, if necessary.
Discussion Points
- Review policies and procedures on food and nutrition services, individualized restricted diets per physician or designee orders, resident care plans, and emergency response to a resident who is choking.
- Educate staff on the various types of meal and beverage consistencies and on appropriate feeding techniques for each. Provide training regarding the importance of following physician orders and individualized care plans, and on what to do in response to a resident who is choking, including proper technique for administering the Heimlich Maneuver if needed. Document that the trainings occurred and place in each employee’s education file.
- Periodically perform audits for accuracy comparing doctors’ orders in the medical record to diet sheets followed by dining services staff. At each meal, ensure that staff audit to ensure residents’ foods and beverages are the correct consistency before serving, and that physician orders and resident care plans are being followed for both meal consistency and provision of assistive devices. Ensure adequacy of supervision and assistance during meal and snack times.
*This news alert has been prepared by Med-Net Concepts, LLC for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice.*
