Caregivers accused of causing Atascadero grad’s death
April 16, 2013
Attorneys for the family of an Atascadero grad who died in 2010 during a struggle with her caregivers filed a civil suit that alleges her caregivers mistreated their client. [Tribune]
The client, Lauren Arcady, 33, apologized during the struggle with her caregivers, but the workers continued to restrain her in a dangerous position, an attorney argued Monday.
“This girl suffered for 15 minutes in a death struggle,” James Murphy said in court. “She was literally dying to get air.”
Murphy said after Arcady quit breathing the caregivers failed to perform CPR and waited roughly five minutes before calling 911.
The two caregivers from Genesis Developmental Services spent the daytime hours with Arcady who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, suffered from seizures, was prone to self-injurious behavior and had mild mental retardation.
During closing arguments, Murphy said he is seeking a $5 million verdict because Genesis Developmental Services was grossly negligent in not properly training its caregivers.
Caregivers Vanessa Gonzales and Cristina Camacho were never charged with a crime.
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