Family to sue Illinois nursing home over morphine incident

Attorneys for the daughter of 98-year-old Dorothy Byrd plan to file a civil suit against Holland Homes Assisted Living (Illinois) and a nurse in its employ. In February 2015, Byrd was rushed to the hospital along with five other residents. All six seniors had morphine in their systems, but Byrd was the only one who died, according to CBS2 report.

Holland is accused of negligence because the night nurse was working with an expired license, had worked for a short time and was inadequately trained. In a video deposition, the nurse acknowledges that she knew where the morphine was kept and that she had access to the drug.  She, however, denies involvement in the incident.  The family’s attorneys claim that the nurse’s motive for the incident was to ease her workload.

Sandra Hoban

Sandra Hoban was on I Advance Senior Care / Long-Term Living’s editorial staff for 17 years. She is one of the country’s longest-serving senior care journalists. Before joining Long-Term Living, she was a member of the promotions department at Advanstar Communications. In addition to her editorial experience, Sandi has served past roles in print and broadcast advertising as a traffic and talent coordinator.