Woman Killed After Senior Home Atria Park Of San Mateo Served Her Dishwashing Liquid | LeakYou
Channel: Crimes and Investigations
Date: 2022-08-30

Gertrude Elizabeth Murison Maxwell Killed After Senior Home Atria Park Of San Mateo Serves Her Dishwashing Liquid | LeakYou

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Three residents of an assisted living facility were mistakenly served dishwashing liquid as drinking juice and one has since passed away, KRON4 has learned.

The incident occurred at the Atria Park Senior Living facility in San Mateo. On Saturday morning around 8:30 a.m., three ambulances were called to the facility to treat patients, according to San Mateo Consolidated Fire. According to Atria Park, three people were transported to the hospital after “mistakenly being served dishwashing liquid as drinking juice,” the facility confirmed in a statement to KRON4.

KRON4 spoke with one family who says their loved one has passed away following the incident. Marcia Cutchin says that her family first heard of the incident involving her mother, Gertrude Elizabeth Murison Maxwell, 93, when an Atria staff member called to report that she had ingested a substance and an ambulance was being called.

Cutchin says that her mother, Maxwell, arrived at the hospital with “severe blistering of her mouth and throat and esophagus.” Cutchin says Atria told her family the substance was an, “alkaline cleaning solution that eats protein,” when they were first informed of the incident. From her first arrival at the hospital, Maxwell’s family was told there was nothing the medical team could do to treat the blistering.  

Cutchin said she and her family were told that first responders believed the dementia patients had ingested the substance on their own. Cutchin disputes this and maintains it would be impossible in her mother’s case because she cannot feed herself.

“We can confirm three of our residents were recently transported to the hospital after mistakenly being served dishwashing liquid as drinking juice. We have been working with local authorities, who have informed us that one resident passed away. Our sincerest condolences are with the family. When this occurred, our staff immediately contacted authorities, and the residents were transported to the hospital for evaluation and treatment.  We are conducting our own internal investigation, and the employees involved have been suspended until this investigation concludes. We will continue working with the police and Department of Social Services to fully review and assess the incident, after which we will take additional actions as needed. The safety and well-being of our residents remain our top priorities at all times. Out of respect for the people involved, we cannot comment further.”

Atria Senior Living