One dead after senior home serves residents dishwashing liquid instead of juice

The 93-year-old resident, Gertrude Elizabeth Murison Maxwell, leaves behind eight children and 20 grandchildren

Three residents at a San Francisco Bay area senior citizens home were mistakenly served dishwashing liquid as juice, with one woman dying as a result of the incident.

Over the weekend, staff at Atria Park of San Mateo, located 20 miles south of San Francisco, accidentally served a caustic liquid instead of the regularly offered grape juice, the senior facility confirmed in a statement to KRON.

“We can confirm three of our residents were recently transported to the hospital after mistakenly being served dishwashing liquid as drinking juice. We have been working with local authorities, who have informed us that one resident passed away,” a statement from the California facility issued to KTLA read.

Two of the residents affected by the mistaken drink order remain in hospital, while the third resident, 93-year-old Gertrude Elizabeth Murison Maxwell, was confirmed by her family to have died from the incident at the senior facility where she had reportedly been a long-time resident.

Marcia Cutchin, the daughter of the deceased resident, told KTLA in an interview that she and the family were initially told that her mother had consumed an “alkaline cleaning solution that eats protein”.

Upon arriving at the hospital where her mother was being treated, Ms Cutchin said that she saw her suffering with “severe blistering of her mouth and throat and oesophagus”.

Gertrude Elizabeth Murison Maxwell (KRON)

First responders had reportedly told the family that they initially suspected that the residents, some of whom reportedly suffered from dementia, had consumed the toxic substance on their own, a narrative that didn’t square with Ms Cutchin’s understanding of her own mother’s condition.

“Many people, like my mother, you have to hold a cup to her mouth and tip it into her mouth,” she said to KTLA, describing how her mother and many of the residents in the home were unable to feed themselves without assistance.

Atria Park said in a statement that the staff involved in the mistaken cleaning product incident have been suspended until the investigation concludes (KTLA/video screengrab)

The senior facility said in a statement that the staff involved in the incident have been “suspended until this investigation concludes”.

“Our sincerest condolences are with the family. When this occurred, our staff immediately contacted authorities, and the residents were transported to the hospital for evaluation and treatment,” the San Mateo facility said in a statement.

“We are conducting our own internal investigation, and the employees involved have been suspended until this investigation concludes. We will continue working with the police and Department of Social Services to fully review and assess the incident, after which we will take additional actions as needed,” the statement continued, before noting that the facility could not provide further comment “out of respect for the people involved”.

The Independent reached out to Atria, who has several facilities across the country, for comment but did not hear back immediately.

The San Mateo Police are continuing to investigate the incident and have not shared any additional information as of late Monday night but noted that Atria is cooperating with the investigation.