Even Celebrities Can't Avoid Long Term Care Abuse
Boxing legend Joe Lewis made a living out of abusing his opponents in the boxing ring. The boxing ring is where the abuse for Joe Lewis' family should have ended. However, Joe Lewis' 92 year old sister, Vunies High, experienced her own form of abuse at the hands of the Detroit, Michigan-based Heatherwood, an independent living center. Heatherwood had been providing assisted living services in addition to independent living services for Ms. High, who was an Alzheimer's patient who required extensive assistance due to her failing mental health. In February 2008, Ms. High was allowed to wander unnoticed and unmonitored outdoors into the cold weather. Confused and unable to find her way back, Vunies High died of hypothernmia, which means that her body temperature fell so low that she died. Ms. High's family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging negligence by Capital Senior Living, the operator of Heatherwood, in not monitoring Ms. High, for keeping her as a patient in spite of her compromised mental condition, and failing to arm the emergency exits with alarms.
