Tennessee Veterans Home Settles With U.S. Justice Department
The State of Tennessee and the Department of Justice have reached a settlement that will end the Department of Justice's investigation into the care of our veterans at Tennessee-run veterans homes.
Admissions were halted last year to three veterans' facilities after investigators discovered that the staff failed to protect residents from violence between residents and manage aggressive behavior. At two of the three facilities, nutrition and hydration were sorely lacking and the facilities improperly used psychotropic medications, had improper pain management, and improper fall prevention.
The Justice Department found care at Tennessee's Humbolt and Murfreesboro facilities was "so grossly deficient that residents are, among other things, practically being starved and dehydrated to death". In one instance, a triple Bronze Star recipient died in May 2007 after becoming severely dehydrated and the staff failed to prevent the dehydration that contributed to his death. He was a resident of the Murfreesboro facility.
The investigation will end in eighteen months if the facilties' violations are corrected.
