‘Worse For Care’: When Elder Homes Stumble, Frail Vermonters Get Hurt

Marilyn Kelly’s health declined quickly during her eight months at an eldercare home. The 78-year-old entered Our House Too in Rutland a spirited woman who could cast a fishing rod. She soon began taking falls, and her visiting daughters often found their mother slumped in a stupor.

They blamed her dementia at first. Then they learned that Our House Too was giving Marilyn daily doses of Haldol, a powerful and sedating antipsychotic drug. Her daughters arrived one day to discover Marilyn trying to feed herself, but she couldn’t find her mouth with her fork. She was still in pajamas; her arm was smeared with excrement.

The final blow: The facility’s owner revealed that an overnight staffer had been caught on camera shoving Marilyn to the floor. She walked away as Marilyn cried out in pain.

Our House Too’s “egregious” care cut Marilyn’s life short, a former head of the state agency that licensed the home later contended in support of a lawsuit filed by Marilyn’s family. State inspectors who visited just after Marilyn died logged numerous regulatory violations — but did not issue so much as a fine.

Read the rest of the story at VPR’s website.