Woman dies after California elderly home serves residents dishwasher soap instead of juice

Three residents of an assisted living facility in California were mistakenly served dishwashing liquid instead of juice, resulting in the death of an elderly woman.

On Saturday at around 8:30 a.m. local time, three ambulances were called to the Atria Park Senior Living facility in San Mateo, according to San Mateo Consolidated Fire.

Three people were treated after they were “mistakenly being served dishwashing liquid as drinking juice,” Atria Park told KRON.

One of the three affected by the incident, 93-year-old dementia patient Gertrude Elizabeth Murison Maxwell, passed away after consuming the dishwashing liquid.

Maxwell's family was first informed of the incident when an Atria staff member called to report that she was going to be taken in an ambulance after having ingested an “alkaline cleaning solution that eats protein,” said family member Maria Cutchin.

When the elderly woman arrived at the hospital with “severe blistering of the mouth and throat and esophagus.” The medical team told her family there was nothing they could do to treat it.

First responders initially believed that the residents had ingested the liquid on their own. However, Cutchin said that would be impossible because Maxwell was unable to feed herself.

“Many people, like my mother, you have to hold a cup to her mouth and tip it into her mouth,” Cutchin said.

"If it was people not being careful with the liquids and people suffered harm or death by it, that would be of course could be a very significant lawsuit out of it. Technically there is a thing in the criminal law called criminal negligence," said San Mateo’s District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

“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 safety and well-being of our residents remain our top priorities at all times. Out of respect for the people involved, we cannot comment further,” said Atria in a statement after the incident. 

Three residents of an assisted living facility in California were mistakenly served dishwashing liquid instead of juice, resulting in the death of an elderly woman.

On Saturday at around 8:30 a.m. local time, three ambulances were called to the Atria Park Senior Living facility in San Mateo, according to San Mateo Consolidated Fire.

Three people were treated after they were “mistakenly being served dishwashing liquid as drinking juice,” Atria Park told KRON.

One of the three affected by the incident, 93-year-old dementia patient Gertrude Elizabeth Murison Maxwell, passed away after consuming the dishwashing liquid.

Maxwell's family was first informed of the incident when an Atria staff member called to report that she was going to be taken in an ambulance after having ingested an “alkaline cleaning solution that eats protein,” said family member Maria Cutchin.

When the elderly woman arrived at the hospital with “severe blistering of the mouth and throat and esophagus.” The medical team told her family there was nothing they could do to treat it.

First responders initially believed that the residents had ingested the liquid on their own. However, Cutchin said that would be impossible because Maxwell was unable to feed herself.

“Many people, like my mother, you have to hold a cup to her mouth and tip it into her mouth,” Cutchin said.

"If it was people not being careful with the liquids and people suffered harm or death by it, that would be of course could be a very significant lawsuit out of it. Technically there is a thing in the criminal law called criminal negligence," said San Mateo’s District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

“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 safety and well-being of our residents remain our top priorities at all times. Out of respect for the people involved, we cannot comment further,” said Atria in a statement after the incident.