Abuse Is Not Abuse If The Patient Is Dead?
Abuse is not abuse if the patient is dead? Shockingly, a recent Michigan Court of Appeals decision came to that conclusion. The Court of Appeals unanimously ruled "that because a dead body is not a person, it is not protected under a statute that protects patient abuse in nursing homes".
Lillian McIntyre died at Cherrywood Nursing Home in Sterling Heights, Michigan on October 13, 2004. Nurse aides Tahirah Shakur, Keisa Cooper, and Nichole Jackson were assigned the task of preparing the body for removal. Instead of respecting the deceased, the three women found it amusing to pat Ms. McIntyre's hand and tell her to "wake up". One woman took a photograph of the other two hugging the deceased. They also posed the body with hands in the air, arms behind her head, and bending her knees. The women were fired for their behavior, but alarmingly, the Macomb County Department of Community Health did not revoke their licenses, even though the facility was cited for violation of patient dignity.
