The discovery of a previously unreported complaint form has implicated an assistant physical therapist in a Las Vegas claim for elder abuse.
The Las Vegas claim for elder abuse was made by the widow and daughter of Fredrick Knell – an eighty-nine year old resident of the Las Ventanas nursing facility in Summerlin, who was taken to the St. Rose Dominican Hospital on May 21, 2014, with a fracture of the left femur and severe bruising. Medical staff at the hospital also documented bedsores that were attributed to “severe neglect”.
Fredrick had surgery on his leg and was given a blood transfusion two days later. Tragically he never recovered from the trauma and died at the hospital in September.
While lawyers acting on behalf of the family were investigating the circumstances of Fredrick´s fractured leg, the presence of a complaint form came to light during an interview with the Director of Social Services at Las Ventanas – Sharon Shepherd. Ms. Shepherd told the lawyers that she had been told not to release the form, but the lawyers got a court order for Las Ventanas to hand it over.
The complaint form reveals that on the day prior to Fredrick´s admission to hospital, he had asked a nurse to call the police. According to the nurse´s report, Fredrick had pointed to his knee and told her “the therapist”. The nurse – Jackie Kinsey – did not call the police as she had been asked, but completed the form and forwarded it to her managers.
Following the discovery of the previously unreported complaint form, Charles Maribbay – an assistant physical therapist – and his employer, Aegis Therapies Inc., have been added as defendants in the Las Vegas claim for elder abuse. “The failure to disclose the document originally speaks for itself,” one of the lawyers told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The lawyer also told reporters that the director of nursing and the therapy manager at Las Ventanas were designated to investigate the complaint. Allegedly the section of the form that indicates what action was taken and whether the complaint was resolved remains blank. “This is a horrible, horrible case where even the police were requested to be called, but the facility did nothing,” the lawyer said.
Unless resolved beforehand, the Las Vegas claim for elder abuse is scheduled to be heard before Judge Gloria Sturman at the Clark County District Court in March 2017.