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A 93-year-old woman died after she was served industrial cleaner to drink at a senior care facility, a California lawsuit said. 

A 93-year-old woman died after she was served industrial cleaner to drink at a senior care facility, a California lawsuit said. 

Photo from Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy

A 93-year-old woman died after she was served industrial cleaner to drink at a senior care facility, a California lawsuit said.

Trudy Maxwell died at a hospital two days after ingesting the cleaner at Atria Park in San Mateo on Aug. 27, according to a lawsuit filed on behalf of her family on Thursday, Sept. 29.

“Atria served Trudy a cleaner which was more toxic than Drano,” Niall McCarthy, an attorney with Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy who represents Maxwell’s family, said in a news release. “When you place your loved one in a senior facility, you do not expect it to be one of the most dangerous places in the Bay Area.”

The lawsuit alleges dependent adult abuse and neglect, negligence and wrongful death.

In an emailed statement to McClatchy News, Atria Senior Living said residents are the company’s top priority, adding that it ensures “staff are thoroughly trained and able to meet our residents’ needs at all times.”

“We take this incident very seriously,” the statement said. “We’re continuing to work with authorities and the Department of Social Services to fully review and assess the incident. Our hearts remain with the residents affected, their families, and loved ones.”

Shortly after the incident, wherein three residents were transported to a hospital after being poisoned, Atria Senior Living said in a statement the residents were mistakenly “served dishwashing liquid as drinking juice,” McClatchy News previously reported.

Another resident, 93-year-old Peter Schroder, also died from the poisoning, according to a lawsuit recently filed by his family that alleged negligence and elder abuse, KNTV reported.

“I feel like I was robbed,” Susan Schroder, Schroder’s daughter, told KNTV. “No one knows how long they have to live…but he enjoyed life…and I just feel like that was all taken away.”

Maxwell, a life-long San Mateo County resident who was diagnosed with dementia, began living at the facility in October 2020, according to the lawsuit.

On the day of the August incident, Maxwell was brought from her room “in the memory care unit” to the cafeteria for breakfast, the lawsuit said.

A bottle of a container of Ecolab Ultra Klene was left in the kitchen area by an employee, according to the lawsuit. Another employee took the cleaner and filled the liquid into a separate container.

Staff then “poured it into cups for residents to drink,” the lawsuit said, and three residents, including Maxwell, were given the liquid and drank it.

“The cleaner had a pH level of 13.5 which was the equivalent of serving Trudy Drano,” the complaint said.

Immediately after drinking the liquid, Maxwell showed “signs of distress,” the lawsuit said.

Staff didn’t immediately call 911, the lawsuit said, but instead “waited over 30 excruciating minutes.”

During those 30 minutes, “the liquid began to burn and melt her mouth, throat, and esophagus,” the lawsuit said.

After staff called 911 and Maxwell was taken to a hospital, “doctors noted that she likely would not survive, due to the extent of the injuries immediately noticeable to her mouth and throat,” the lawsuit said.

The complaint also alleges Atria “did nothing” to train staff properly despite a similar poisoning at another facility in Contra Costa County days prior.

Attorneys are seeking a number of damages, including punitive, exemplary and special damages, according to the lawsuit.

San Mateo is about 20 miles south of San Francisco.



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