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Settlement reached in rubber-glove restraint case

LTC Liability Monitor, February 17, 2005

The family of a Florida woman who choked to death on a rubber glove in 2002 has reached a settlement with her nursing home, the St. Petersburg [FL] Times reported. Robert and Thomas Carter received $201,000 after dropping their lawsuit against Heron Point Health and Rehabilitation in Brooksville, FL, alleging negligence and other charges.

Their 82-year-old mother, Mildred Wathen, asphyxiated on a rubber glove a nursing assistant put on her hand to keep her from scratching and picking at a bedsore. The Carters initially sued the facility for neglect and failure to prevent abuse. They said the facility used a restraint-the glove-without a doctor's order. A judge cleared Heron Point of those charges, deciding that although gloves match the state's definition of physical restraints, they are not considered restraints in the nursing home industry, according to the Times.

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