She modeled in New York and worked for the Navy. At 93, parasites ate her alive at a nursing home.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/05/01/she-modeled-in-new-york-and-worked-for-the-navy-at-93-parasites-ate-her-alive-at-a-nursing-home/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.43e7f7430a03

by Kristine Phillips May 1, 2018

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the once-vibrant woman later found herself living in a nursing home, where she suffered a long, painful death, her family’s attorneys said. Parasitic mites had burrowed under her skin, living and laying eggs all over her body. By the time she died, vesicles and thick crusts had formed on her skin. Her right hand had turned nearly black, and Prieto said her fingers were about to fall off.

The scabies that infected Zeni’s body had become so severe that bacteria seeped into her bloodstream. She died in 2015 at age 93.

Zeni’s death is now the subject of a lawsuit filed against PruittHealth, a for-profit company that owns dozens of nursing homes, including Shepherd Hills in LaFayette, Ga., where Zeni lived for five years until she died. Shepherd Hills, a nursing home that had multiple scabies outbreaks in recent years and a history of health violations, failed to follow policies and procedures to prevent the occurrence and spread of the highly contagious disease, documents say. Instead of providing the care that Zeni desperately needed, the lawsuit alleges that the nursing home allowed her to die an agonizing death.

“The last six months of her life, she was in constant pain,” Prieto said. “She was literally being eaten alive from inside out.”

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Nursing homes owned by big corporations and private investment firms consistently performed poorly in terms of quality of care and are more likely than nonprofit and government facilities to be cited for “serious deficiencies” that harm residents, according to 2011 and 2016 reports by the Government Accountability Office. Staffing levels are usually lower, meaning trained nurses spend less time with residents each day.

“You must consider that the reimbursement rate from CMS [Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services] continues to fail to keep up with rising costs that’s associated with care,” said Prieto, who focuses on nursing-home litigation. “The only variable that’s available for these for-profit facilities to ensure they continue to maximize their opportunity for profiting is staffing. Purposefully understaff facilities in an attempt to ensure maximum profit.”

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An affidavit by Debi Luther, a Florida nurse who reviewed Zeni’s medical records, stated that the nursing home’s failure to recognize her deteriorating condition and to prevent the spread of scabies resulted in her death.

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