EBENSBURG - The mother of a 30-year-old woman who died at the Ebensburg Center because of a drug overdose has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Johnstown.
Marlene Thrower of Pearl Road in Pittsburgh is charging negligence by the center's medical staff because her daughter Csilisa received two injections of a powerful drug within an hour on Dec. 29, 2007.
According to the lawsuit, the daughter became unconscious and died about 40 minutes after the second shot.
Pittsburgh attorney Chad P. Shannon, representing Thrower, who is the administratrix of her daughter's estate, has charged that the death of Csilisa is one of many incidents of patient abuse that have occurred at the center.
He stated that the center has systematically violated the right of several patients over the years, citing reports by Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner and inspection reports from the Department of Health.
The lawsuit is against the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, Secretary Estelle Richman, and numerous employees at the center, which has more than 400 residents.
The Thrower lawsuit was originally filed in the Cambria County Court of Common Pleas but was recently removed from the county court to the federal court in Johnstown by the state.
The reason stems from the fact that the case will center around federal law, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act and the Federal Nursing Home Reform Act.
Shannon on Wednesday filed a revised version of his lawsuit with the federal court, contending civil rights' violations by the center, wrongful death due to medical professional liability and a survival action under which the victim's estate can request damages for pain and suffering, medical expenses and possibly other losses.
One of the major obstacles to suing a public facility, Shannon said, is that they have immunity. He said, however, that a recent decision by the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals allowed a lawsuit against a county nursing home based on the rights to residents under federal law.
He said in a telephone interview the Third Circuit case was "a very closely watched matter" throughout the nation.
According to the lawsuit, Thrower's daughter was admitted to Ebensburg in early 2007. On Dec. 29 of that year, she experienced a "behavioral crisis" and was given two shots of Haldol, a drug used to control behavior, between 4 and 5 p.m.
The lawsuit alleges, among other charges, that the facility violated regulations to prevent patient abuse, did not have written policies and procedures to prevent mistreatment of patients and did not maintain an environment that enhanced the dignity of residents.
The welfare department was contacted for comment but did not respond as of late Thursday.
Mirror Staff Writer Phil Ray is at 946-7468.
