Saturday, February 02, 2013

Calif. woman gets prison for nursing home death

A former California nursing home director was sentenced Wednesday to three years in state prison for inappropriately medicating elderly patients at a Kern County nursing home, including one who died, Attorney General Kamala D. Harris said.

Gwen D. Hughes, who worked at Kern Valley Healthcare District's facility in Lake Isabella, was originally charged in the deaths of three patients. But she pleaded no contest in October in Kern County Superior Court to one felony count of elder abuse with a special allegation that the abuse contributed to the victim's death.

California Department of Justice officials allege that Hughes, 59, ordered the hospital's director of pharmacy to write doctor's orders for psychotropic medication for 23 patients — not for therapeutic reasons, but to keep them quiet.  Calif. woman gets prison for nursing home death - SFGate

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