Florida Assisted Living Resident Dies of Poisoning After Swallowing Dishwasher Detergent
Just one year after being warned that it needed to secure areas in its dementa unit to prevent residents from having unsupervised access, a ninety-three year old Florida assisted living resident died from severe burns of the esophagus after drinking sodium hydroxide solution.
Michael Gruen, who suffered from the late stages of Alzheimer's, lived at Homewood Residence at Delray Beach, an assisted living facility in Delray Beach, Florida. Early in the morning on December 28, 2009, Gruen managed to enter a satellite kitchen at the facility through a split door while facility staff were busy with another resident. While one half of the door was locked, Gruen reportedly reached around and unlocked the other half to enter the kitchen. There, he was found standing over the dishwashing detergent container but couldn't tell facility staff if he had swallowed anything. By the time paramedics arrived, Gruen was lying on a couch, drooling. He died eighteen hours later from severe burns to his esophagus.
The question facing this facility is how a resident suffering from dementia could have access to this dangerous product if the area was to be secured and they had already been warned by the state. A Homewood Resident parent company spokeswoman said that there was no way staff could have predicted the events that led to Mr. Gruen's death. Really? People suffering from dementia wander and open doors. People with dementia put things in their mouths that they shouldn't. Sounds predictable to me.
The facility faces a $10,000 state fine related to the incident.
