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Thursday, July 31, 1997

Morales sues 2 nursing homes

AUSTIN (AP) - A nursing home accused of ignoring a doctor's orders for a patient that later died and another home suspected of not protecting patients from sexual abuse are being sued by the state.

Attorney General Dan Morales' office said Wednesday it has filed civil lawsuits against Whispering Palms Nursing and Development Center in Brownsville and Jarvis Heights Nursing Center in Fort Worth.

The lawsuit against Whispering Palms, filed in Cameron County, says the home in 1996 failed to give a patient with several ailments, including congestive heart failure, the individual care he required.

Three days after the patient was released from the hospital to the nursing home, he experienced shortness of breath and fainted, according to the lawsuit.

The nursing home then failed to provide an EKG and one-on-one monitoring ordered by a doctor, Morales' office said. The patient died at the nursing home that night.

"Unfortunately such lawsuits are all too common," said Ron Dusek, spokesman for Morales. "We shouldn't be filing lawsuits to force nursing homes to take proper care of our elderly patients."

Nursing home owner Audi Sardessai said he was not aware of the lawsuit and did not know of any suspicious deaths.

"I took the nursing home in February of '96, so I don't know what has happened before that," Sardessai said.

The home, which cares for 157 patients, was purchased by Sardessai from Denton-based Texas Health Enterprise.

Texas Health Enterprise declined comment.

The lawsuit against Jarvis Heights Nursing Center, filed in Tarrant County, alleges that three female patients were not protected from a male patient with a long history of behavioral problems, including sexual inappropriateness.

The female patients were subjected to verbal, sexual, mental and sexual abuse, according to Morales.

A representative of Jarvis Heights Nursing Center referred a call to a corporate office which didn't return calls Wednesday. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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