Yahoo Movies Widow sues JoCo nursing home after husband who mistakenly drank dishwasher soap dies
A widow has sued Sunrise Assisted Living of Lenexa alleging her husband died after mistakenly drinking dishwasher liquid thinking it was cranberry juice, according to court documents.
Carolyn Wisecarver filed the wrongful death lawsuit this week in Johnson County District Court against Sunrise Senior Living Services Inc. and Sunrise Senior Living Management Inc., which operates Sunrise Senior Living of Lenexa at 15055 West 87th Street Parkway.
A spokesman for the corporate office of Sunrise Senior Living in McLean, Virginia, said they were unable to comment on the lawsuit at this time.
Wisecarver’s husband, Elmer “Joe” Wisecarver, moved into the secured memory care unit at Sunrise Senior Living’s Lenexa location on Dec. 31, 2020. He was in his mid-90s and was noted to have unspecified dementia with behavioral disturbance and altered mental status, according to the suit.
He was known to be independently mobile and had a wandering behavior. He also liked to drink cranberry juice, which was available for residents to serve themselves in the kitchen area, Wisecarver said in the suit.
One Nov. 14, 2021, the dishwasher in the memory care unit was believed to not be dispensing dishwashing liquid properly. An employee poured detergent containing sodium hydroxide into a cup with the intention of adding it manually to the dishwasher, according to the suit.
Before doing so, the employee went to the bathroom and left the cup unsupervised and unsecured in the kitchen area, Wisecarver contends.
Her husband entered the kitchen alone and after seeing the cup of red colored liquid, he drank it thinking it was cranberry juice, the suit said.
A staff member responded when she heard him cry out after drinking the liquid. He took her to the kitchen and motioned to the cup and said, “I drunk this and I’m going to die,” according to the suit.
He was taken to AdventHealth Shawnee Mission Hospital where he died as a result of drinking the dishwashing liquid, according to the suit. He died on Nov. 14, 2021, at the age of 95, according to his obituary.
Prior to his death, he suffered severe burns to his esophagus, disfigurement, mental anguish and other pain, according to the lawsuit. He also incurred medical expenses.
The lawsuit alleges, among other things, that the nursing home failed to train its staff on the supervision of dementia patients and failed to have appropriate policies in place to store toxic chemicals and to protect patients from accidental ingestion of the chemicals.
The lawsuit is seeking in excess of $75,000 in damages for his widow and other heirs.
