An Elderly Woman’s Bed Bug Complaints Were Dismissed As Hallucinations By Her Caregivers
An Elderly Woman’s Bed Bug Complaints Were Dismissed As Hallucinations By Her Caregivers
Living within an assisted living facility is not a fate that many elderly people hope for, and for good reason. While many assisted living facilities only employ the most responsible of staff members, one particular facility has recently come under fire for their ill treatment of a resident. Not long ago, an elderly woman residing at an assisted living facility discovered bed bugs within her room. The woman did not waste a second complaining to the staff about the bed bug sightings. Sadly, the woman’s complaints were not taken seriously. In fact, several staff members simply told the woman that the bed bugs were merely hallucinations, which must have been comforting. Not surprisingly, the bed bug sightings were not hallucinations, and now the assisted living facility is being slapped with a hefty lawsuit.
The elderly woman, Marcia Collen, claims to have first spotted bed bugs in her room back in 2016, and that another resident also spotted bed bugs earlier this year. Collen was residing at an assisted living facility named Life Manor located in Tacoma, Washington. Collen’s lawsuit claims that she was not the only resident to find bed bugs in her room at Life Manor. In fact, other residents also complained, but the staff attempted to keep the problem quiet by discrediting and silencing residents who complained. Furthermore, Collen claims that a pest control professional never inspected her room. Of course, lawyers representing Life Manor deny this. Representatives for Life Manor claimed that each time a bed bug complaint was made by a resident, pest control professionals carried out the proper inspections. According to members of the Life Manor staff, pest control professionals never found a bed bug infestation, except for one, and it was cleared up. Eventually, a relative of another resident visited the facility and noticed bed bugs literally crawling on Collen’s body. This relative reported her disturbing discovery to the facility’s director. Not long after this incident, bed bugs were found at another assisted living facility owned by Life Manor. In addition to this damning evidence, a former employee of Life Manor admitted that a bed bug problem existed in the facility during the 2016 year.
If you had a relative living in a retirement home, would you make a point to check his/her living area for bed bugs?
