ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A New York state assemblyman is demanding a federal probe into the state's facilities for the disabled following an Associated Press story that revealed the case of a man infested with maggots in a state-run group home.
Democrat Anthony Brindisi, of Utica, told the AP Saturday that the state can't be trusted to police itself when it comes to abuse and neglect in state facilities.
Forty-one-year-old Steven Wenger was twice found to have maggots around his breathing tube in a state-owned facility in Rome, New York, last summer. Wenger suffered severe brain trauma in a 1991 car crash.
State officials concluded the maggots were the result of neglect, but no caregivers were disciplined and the report on the case was made confidential. Officials say they increased training for staff following the incident.
