Oakland man dies from 'reckless overmedication' after escaping from nursing home, complaint alleges

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- An East Oakland nursing home is facing more allegations of reckless negligence, fraud, and now wrongful death.

"It was a horror movie," said Kyomi Williams.

Her father died while in the care of Windsor Healthcare Center of Oakland, a facility located along Fruitvale Avenue.

According to a complaint filed in Alameda County Superior Court, the facility is accused of chemically restraining her father for "convenience" without any consultation from his doctor.

"Every day, I was just fighting with them for adequate care for my father," Williams said.

MORE: Lawsuit filed after 98-year-old grandmother allegedly killed by roommate at Bay Area nursing home

Less than a month after admitting her father to the facility, he was found dead in his bed after what the complaint alleges was "reckless overmedication" with sedatives and narcotics.

"I was under the impression that it was a 4.5 facility," Williams said. "When I got there, it was totally unacceptable."

Several days after Williams' father was admitted in December of 2022, the complaint alleges he eloped from the building and his daughter found him by a nearby crosswalk.

"That's when they started medicating him," Williams said. "Every time I was there, he was unable to talk."

The facility allegedly never reported the incident to state regulators, which the complaint claims is required by state law. Instead, the complaint stated the facility secured a physician's order for Ativan, a sedative and a morphine narcotic, to prevent him from getting away.

MORE: Oakland nursing home faces lawsuit alleging rape, neglect and fraud after 'hiding problems'

"And that's basically chemically restraining someone, because it's easier when they're drugged up to supervise them," said Ed Dudensing, an elder abuse attorney. "It's a very uncompassionate way to deal with people, and it can be deadly, as it was in this case."

According to legal documents, unqualified staff allegedly heavily dosed her father with sedatives and narcotics without directly consulting with his doctor, which was required by the facility and the physician's order.

Williams also said facility staff failed to update her father's medical chart. He reportedly fell in January last year and the complaint says the facility doubled his dosage of morphine.

The complaint says the alleged overmedicating continued with sedatives and narcotics for weeks until Mr. Williams' death on Jan. 7.

"That was the ultimate cause of his death," Dudensing said. "And that's a horrible way to die."

MORE: Another senior dies at a Bay Area Atria facility; son says 94-year-old dad was given cleaning fluid

The I-Team reached out to Windsor Healthcare Center of Oakland, along with some of its parent companies for further comment. This includes the parent company's CEO billionaire businessman Shlomo Rechnitz, who owns dozens of nursing home facilities across the state. We haven't heard back.

The facility is part of a larger network of nursing homes that have been scrutinized in recent years. The complaint alleges the company presents false representations and manipulates the 5-star rating system with respect to staffing and quality of care.
According to Care Compare, a federal oversight arm for nursing homes, the facility has a 4-out-of-5 star rating on Medicare's website.

"We've got five current pending cases against him and his facilities," Dudensing said. "That's one hallmark in all these cases. They are significantly understaffed."

Take a look at more stories by the ABC7 News I-Team.