A New Hampshire nursing home that’s being sued for wrongful death does not have to divulge details about its quality control program, a Superior Court judge has ruled.
Golden View Health Care Center in Meredith, NH, is being sued for medical negligence and wrongful death by the estate of Barbara Whittier. The 82-year-old resident died in 2016 from injuries sustained after being attacked by fellow resident Donald Sleeper.
The attorney representing Whittier’s estate had tried to obtain all records related to the woman’s death, including how the long-term care facility trains and hires its staff. But Judge James D. O’Neill III has shot down that request, ruling that those records “are not original” or “relative to any patient,” and do not need to be turned over to the court, the Laconia Daily Sun reports.
Attorneys are accusing Golden View of being aware of Sleeper’s “intimidating, stalking and assaultive behavior,” and failing to address it. State investigators noted that the facility’s staff intervened after the 87-year-old Sleeper, who suffers from severe Alzheimer’s dementia, was discovered assaulting Whittier. Her death — from hypertensive and coronary heart disease, with a contributing cause of attempted strangulation — was ruled a homicide.
