Nursing Home Owner Pleads Guilty to Abuse in Resident's Death
A 49-year-old woman in Folsom, CA has pleaded guilty to abuse after an elderly woman who died in the residential care facility that she owned. Adriana Lucica Catuna faces a year in county jail for the death of 82-year-old Georgia Fitsos three years ago. The incident occurred in August of 2007 when Fitsos was left in the facility under the care of an attendant that did not speak English well and as a result did not know that the situation was urgent when Fitsos was having difficulty breathing.
Fitsos was taken to a hospital where she was treated for several ailments including malnutrition, dehydration, sepsis and a bedsore on her hip. Fitsos’ son filed a wrongful death lawsuit following this incident. Catuna is currently barred from working at any care facility in California.
Although a language barrier is a legitimate reason for someone being unable to provide a certain amount of care to a person, it does not excuse the facility from not providing proper care from another attendant. The situation could have easily been remedied if other attendants had been present to care for Fitsos. Anybody in an elder care facility or under in-home care deserves the best possible care that can be provided. The facility in this incident clearly failed to provide that care. Despite the language barrier, there is no reason why a facility should neglect to care for its residents. Every facility, whether it is a residential care facility or other type of facility, should have safeguards to maintain proper care of its residents including sufficient caregivers. Incidents like this are easily avoidable by maintaining these safeguards.
