Deaths at Illinois Nursing Home May Lead to Criminal and Civil Liability
The deaths of five residents at a Woodstock, Illinois nursing home may be linked to possible morphine overdoses, according to a Friday, Novermber 17 news report from WBBM News Radio online in Chicago.
The suspicious deaths occured over the past two years. The Illinois State Police is focusing on one of several former employees at the Woodstock Residence nursing home and rehabilitation facility.
There has been allegations that a female nurse at the nursing home gave fatal doses of morphine to patients. Police intend to exhume the five bodies as part of the investigation.
Coroner Marlene Lantz said there has been a suspicious spike in reported deaths from Woodstock Residence. In 2003, 17 elderly people died there. 18 people died there in 2004 and in 2005. But through September 2006, 34 senior citizens from the nursing home already have died.
So called "mercy killings" are rare but have occured before. Recently, a nurse was convicted of killing 28 patients at a nursing home in Germany.
A nursing home where mercy killings occur can be sued if it can be shown that the facility does not have proper safeguards to ensure the safety of residents.