Choking Death
On June 27, 2026, a CNA at Newton Village Health Care Center in Iowa fed a woman eggs, sausage, and hashbrowns. The resident, however, required pureed food, as her dysphagia made swallowing difficult and put her at risk for choking. See article here.
The resident realized she was being given unpureed food, and she told the CNA, “No.” Despite her pleading, she was still fed the dangerous food.
Later, the elderly woman began to cough up phlegm and eggs, and her oxygen saturation dipped to 88%, a concerningly low level. She was then given a mask and had bottled oxygen administered.
A few hours later, “coarse lung sounds” could be heard from her room. Her oxygen saturation eventually reached 75%, and she began to turn blue and grasped at her throat with her hands.
She arrived at the hospital shortly after midnight, and she died the next day. Her cause of death was listed as aspiration pneumonia, which occurs when people breathe food or liquid into their lungs.
Dan Donahue, Newton Village’s administrator, admitted that he had not completed an investigation of the incident or reported it to the state as required. He added that he tried to contact the CNA about the matter but said that she did not return his call.
The home’s director of nursing also told inspectors she was aware the resident had been given the incorrect food, choked and was taken to the hospital, but had not been aware the woman died. She acknowledged the incident should have been investigated and reported to the state.
What should have happened is not what happened in this case though. With such a clearly demonstrated failure to follow guidelines as this, it is easy to see why the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing fined Newton Village $8,500.
In addition, the Iowa agency proposed but held in suspension a $10,000 fine for Northbrook Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, located in Cedar Rapids. Suspension often occurs so that the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services can levy their own fine.
What happened at Northbrook is truly gruesome. Four deaths occurred here due to the nursing home’s neglect of four residents with indwelling catheters.
One of the four residents showed no signs of any urinary output for 32 hours and had a fluid intake of only five ounces over a 48-hour period.
This 78-year-old man displayed signs of confusion, abdominal distention, and discomfort, as well as high levels of potassium with evidence of protein breakdown in the liver.
The man was eventually taken by ambulance to a local hospital. Here, the removal of his catheter resulted in “a large gush of blood” from his urethra.
He was admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit with hyperkalemia caused by high potassium levels, acute kidney injury and sepsis, a life-threatening response to an infection.
Tragically, he died on February 5, 2026, with the cause of death listed as acute renal failure and inflammation of the bladder.
The man’s medical provider expressed concern that the resident had no urinary output for more than 24 hours. This meant that urine was sitting in the bladder, and it resulted in sepsis, acute kidney injury, and the need for dialysis.
The home’s current administrator arrived in her position after the man’s death and says she can’t comment on the matter.
She was quick to paint a rosy picture though, as she said, “We have processes in place to ensure residents are taken care of and I dedicate every day to making sure they get the quality of care that they deserve.”
It would be nice to believe this promise. The residents who died, however, lost their lives because of the nursing homes’ failure to keep the previous promise to provide them with care.
To many, a promise means something, but it’s clear that for nursing homes, they are just a way to get patients in the door so they can be ignored once they’re inside.