Breaking News
Central California Woman gets prison for nursing home death
Gwen Hughes sentenced to three years
Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Posted: 01/09/2013
Last Updated:
133 days ago
A California woman has been sentenced to three years in state prison for inappropriately medicating elderly patients at a Kern County nursing home, including several who died.
California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced the sentence imposed Wednesday on Gwen Hughes, the former nursing director at Kern Valley Healthcare District's facility in Lake Isabella.
The 59-year-old Hughes pled no contest in October to one felony count of elder abuse with a special allegation that the abuse contributed to the victim's death.
California Department of Justice officials allege that Hughes ordered the administration of psychotropic medication for 23 patients not for therapeutic reasons, but to keep them quiet.
The drugs hastened three patients' deaths, according to the investigation, and all 23 suffered adverse physical reactions.
Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
PRINT
