Woman eaten alive by mites in Georgia nursing home

Be warned before reading further, the details are rather sickening.

Well, this is one of the most egregious cases of nursing home neglect I've ever heard of.
A 93 year old woman in a Georgia nursing home was left in such a state of neglect that she was eaten alive by parasitic mites that could have been otherwise easily treated. A forensic pathologist who viewed the autopsy report said it was one of the most horrendous thing he's ever seen.

A former model known for her looks was eaten alive by parasitic mites

The microscopic scabies mite burrows into the upper layer of the skin where it lives and lays its eggs

Pictures of Zeni before she died showed her skin blackened and flaky... ...“There was a conversation at this nursing home with a health care provider about being careful about touching Ms. Zeni’s hand for fear that it might fall off her body,”

Sperry believed hundreds of millions of mites were burrowed inside Zeni during the time of her death.
Source

I hope everyone who so much as knew about her condition and did nothing is charged with murder and put away for life.
It's absolutely disgusting that human beings allow things like this to happen.

Seems to me that a doctor would have been able to distinguish the scabies from regular rash some bedridden people get. If someone was paying attention, this would not happen. I think this kind of thing happens a lot in nursing homes. I know they have problems with stuff like that here too. I do not think our people are well enough trained in these places.

a reply to: rickymouse

I have a friend who does hospice care, and from the stories I hear, neglect and inattention are the norm. It's just an easy paycheck for some people.

She was put in there in 2010, and how often did she see her mother?

That had to have gone on for a while, and the daughter didn't think to get another consultation or anything else?

That had to of been a horrid way to go. RIP.

Hopefully, some licenses are lost.

Medicine isn't 'just a paycheck' if you want that kind'a thing you are in the wrong field. These are people your caring for, at their worst, and at the end.

a reply to: trollz

So incredibly awful. Despicable care.

This is a lawsuit I can get behind. If not for nursing home cases, the justice system wouldn't punish anyone in the healthcare industry for negligence or even gross negligence in the care of senior citizens.

Lawyers won't take the cases if they think they can't win enough money through 'lost wages.'

The civil justice system is really a disgrace that is unjustly beneficial to the wealthy.

appalling, tragic, sad and infuriating. hope i am not left to such 'care' if i reach a state of aged infirmity.

originally posted by: rickymouse
Seems to me that a doctor would have been able to distinguish the scabies from regular rash some bedridden people get. If someone was paying attention, this would not happen. I think this kind of thing happens a lot in nursing homes. I know they have problems with stuff like that here too. I do not think our people are well enough trained in these places.

You actually use a magic marker on the skin and then wipe it off with alcohol. It exposes the places they bore into the skin.

ETA: The treament is simple too. It's hard to imagine how scabies could get to this state.

originally posted by: Cygnis
She was put in there in 2010, and how often did she see her mother?

That had to have gone on for a while, and the daughter didn't think to get another consultation or anything else?

That had to of been a horrid way to go. RIP.

Hopefully, some licenses are lost.

Medicine isn't 'just a paycheck' if you want that kind'a thing you are in the wrong field. These are people your caring for, at their worst, and at the end.

Yes, especially hospice care. I'm relieved to say that the only experience I've had with hospice care workers was good.

The hospice nurses that came to our home at the end of my brother-in-law's life were wonderful. They took their time on each visit to make sure that he AND we, his family, were settled and had all of our concerns addressed. They engaged comfortably with him and treated him like the real person that he was, as opposed to treating him like another statistic, which is how several doctors engaged with him through the process.

When it was clear that his time left with us was down to the last day or two, his hospice nurses told us to call them for any reason at any time, and we did. One nurse came out to the house at 2 in the morning just to help us maneuver him in the bed because we couldn't seem to get him comfortable. She got him comfortable, which was immensely helpful for our hearts during those hours. We called her later about what to do about increasing his pain medications- I was the one on the phone with her- and she spent a full 15 minutes going over every option with me. She was so knowledgeable and answered every one of my tiny and large questions like they were the most important questions in the world.

When he passed the next morning, she wasn't on duty. You're supposed to call them when your loved one passes so they can come out and confirm the death, and then they call the funeral home and- shoot, I don't remember who else they call from your house, I just remember several teams showing up to come and take him. Anyway, she wasn't on duty when he passed, but we found out she had left instructions with her replacement to call her if my brother-in-law died before her next shift, and they did because she is the one who showed up.

And it WAS an extra comfort to answer the door that morning after we had made that sad final call, and it was her. I broke down when I saw her and she hugged me without saying a word. She was respectful and gentle with him as she tidied him up and was a great help telling us what to expect and gave us tips on what things to get organized and rounded up, etc.

I know for sure that those hospice workers we were blessed to get, that they did NOT do it just as a paycheck. We chatted with them on their visits and the hours and shifts that they work are brutal, and they definitely don't get paid what they're worth.

But it seems like we hear about these nursing home atrocities quite a bit. Is the certification different for nursing home medical professionals? Is it less stringent? Seems like it shouldn't be any different, the qualifications and certifications and licenses, etc. Is the pay less in nursing homes?? There has to be something, because this poor woman who was plagued by mites is just one of many we hear of who go out in a state of neglect.

This woman's condition CAN'T have gone unnoticed. Which makes one think that it must happen even more than we know, because apparently no one working there seemed to be concerned about getting in trouble for the obvious neglect. What the heck is going on in these places?

In a dog they call it sarcoptic mange.

Its against T&C for me to volunteer to be the blunt end of justice in this case....but right now my heart is in a fire of rage reading this

Im absolutely sickened.

A big problem is that many of these elderly are essentially abandoned or may not have any immediate family that gives a damn. You hear about these stories all the time where some elderly patient is either neglected or abused in these nursing homes.

It is really sad. Sometimes a quick death is much better than being dragged along totally helpless to care for yourself.

a reply to: Edumakated

I wonder if there are volunteer programs where people could be advocates for these poor unfortunates who don’t have family to look out for their welfare. I’d sure join up if there were.

a reply to: Edumakated

The ones who get abandoned by their family make me the saddest. What on earth happened for their family to be so cold? I know it can be hard on a family when your loved one has things like dementia, but they're your family! Whatever happened to filial duty?

It's sadder to me than the tragedy of the ones who genuinely have no one, and they're a huge tragedy.

a reply to: kaylaluv

Most retirement and nursing care homes have volunteer programs and welcome volunteers from the community who would come in and do a variety of things with their residents.

a reply to: ketsuko

Yes, we have a nursing home in my neighborhood, and my daughter and I have participated in a few activities (reading to them, painting women’s nails, etc.). I need to look into whether I could sign up to be an advocate for someone who has no one to make sure they are getting adequate treatment - are they eating right, are they kept clean, are their meds right - all the things a relative should be checking.

a reply to: kaylaluv

There are. Google up "patient advocacy group".

HIPPA can be a challenge...but ive seen them do good worl in mental health

originally posted by: kaylaluv
a reply to: ketsuko

Yes, we have a nursing home in my neighborhood, and my daughter and I have participated in a few activities (reading to them, painting women’s nails, etc.). I need to look into whether I could sign up to be an advocate for someone who has no one to make sure they are getting adequate treatment - are they eating right, are they kept clean, are their meds right - all the things a relative should be checking.

Something to consider: your presence is advocacy. See something? Speak up. Get ignored? Call the state.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Edumakated

The ones who get abandoned by their family make me the saddest. What on earth happened for their family to be so cold? I know it can be hard on a family when your loved one has things like dementia, but they're your family! Whatever happened to filial duty?

It's sadder to me than the tragedy of the ones who genuinely have no one, and they're a huge tragedy.

Caring for the elderly can be tough, particularly if they have dementia.

I think culturally we don't take care of our elderly. It used to be grandparents moved in with you and you took care of them the best you could. Nowadays, it just seems like people just throw them in a nursing home. Granted it is a different time when both husband and wife need to work to keep up with the Joneses...

a reply to: Edumakated

yeah...its BS.

mom lives with me. already told her that my mother in law will move in if the time comes...but they get along well so it'd be a good situation.

but you are right...our nation has a deep vein of selfish running through it.

I was in my late teens when it became impossible for my family to care for my grandmother in our home any further. I tagged along with my folks to some of the care homes they looked at and my God... the lack of oversight, regulations, and monitoring these places operate under turned my stomach. I didn't see anything even remotely this horrific, but when you walk into a place and are hit with the stench of old piss and crap it is obvious something is very wrong. Obviously there are factors when caring for the elderly that are going to happen no matter how fastidious the facility is, but multiday filth is not excusable.

We ultimately found her a place associated with a Lutheran church that was very beautiful. It had been designed to sort of mimic the appearance of a Victorian era plantation house, the residents were actually happy... not the "door opens and all look desperately for a new face entering" happy, but legitimately "sitting visiting with each other, playing rummy or puzzles, laughing, clear eyed happy and that place was a Godsend for my family. My parents wrote a number letters to various agencies and the newspaper about a couple of the horror houses we had looked at, and I know 2 of them were closed by the state within the next year, but I also know of a couple that were not closed until much later. Cases of abuse ultimately closed those facilities.

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan
a reply to: Edumakated

yeah...its BS.

mom lives with me. already told her that my mother in law will move in if the time comes...but they get along well so it'd be a good situation.

but you are right...our nation has a deep vein of selfish running through it.

My Gram began having daily TIAs as well as falling episodes and she flatly refused to stay in her bed. The TIAs took a huge toll on her to the point where her doctor insisted we find a facility equipped to monitor her. She got better at first in the nursing home, (truth be told, I think having access to an IV each day helped her as much as anything else) but after 6 months or so the TIAs started happening multiple times through each day and she slipped very fast. The last 3 months she was totally unresponsive when I'd visit her (which was damn near daily. The facility was 5 minutes away from NMSU and I'd drive over to see her when I had a couple of hours between classes or after my last class of the afternoon.) The night she passed my Mom sat with her and she was 100% coherent for a couple of hours, talking about the family, memories, pride, like she hadn't communicated in nearly a year. She squeezed my Mom's hand and smiled, said "Jim, oh it's Jim. I missed you so, darling." and passed away. Jim was my grandfather who had died in his late 20s from an appendix rupture... and here I sit a grown man that still cries when I think of that. Dammit