Monday, September 8, 2008
Last updated: Monday September 8, 2008, EDT 7:31 PM
BY LINDY WASHBURN STAFF WRITER
An Upper Saddle River couple has sued a South Jersey residential program for causing the death of their 22-year-old multiple handicapped son, who choked on a bagel while his caregiver allegedly bought a cigar.
Stephen Komninos died last October, four days after being put on life support following the choking in the 7-Eleven parking lot in Stratford, the complaint says. His parents, Thomas and Winifred Komninos, have sued Bancroft NeuroHealth, of Haddonfield, in state Superior Court in Camden County. Their son was a resident of Bancroft for 13 years.
The 125-count civil suit alleges that Bancroft caused Stephen’s wrongful death and emotional distress, acted negligently in hiring its employees, and tried to cover up the circumstances of Stephen’s death.
Bancroft NeuroHealth strongly disagrees with the lawsuit’s claims, its president, Toni Pergolin, said in a statement. “Bancroft completed an investigation of the incident, and concluded that our staff at the scene of the accident acted appropriately,” she said. Stephen “was a well-known and much loved member of the Bancroft family and we share our sympathies with the Komninos family.”
Bancroft has been the subject of several state investigations and lawsuits — five years ago, it was the target of the largest fine ever levied against a long-term care institution in New Jersey. A 2005 settlement reached with the state led to state monitoring of the main campus and pediatric programs that concluded last year.
Stephen lived in an off-campus group home in Cherry Hill, his father said. His care required that whenever he was out of the house, he was to be within arm’s length of a caregiver, Thomas Komninos said.
On Oct. 4, Stephen was to have been at an after-school program in Cherry Hill from 5 to 6 p.m., his father said. Instead, the suit charges that an 18-year-old Bancroft employee took Stephen alone to the 7-Eleven where the employee bought himself a cigar.
Stephen “ran out of the store with an item — a wrapped bagel — and the kid who was taking care of him should have dropped everything and run after him,” said Thomas Komninos. But the employee, Komninos said, didn’t know about Stephen’s particular needs. Typically, a caregiver supervised exactly how much food Stephen put into his mouth, Komninos said.
When Stephen choked, the employee asked bystanders how to perform CPR, Komninos said he learned from eyewitnesses. The suit also names 7-Eleven and its manager, alleging that he hung up on the 911 operator.
“The system broke down in so many areas,” said George G. Horiates, the family’s attorney. Stephen “shouldn’t have even been there. This [Bancroft] employee was unqualified to do rescue or emergency procedures. This is not just a problem with the proper training of employees; it’s accountability up the chain of command.”
An investigation by the state Division of Development Disabilities concluded that the allegation of neglect was substantiated, and said that it was the second substantiated case of neglect by that employee. The Camden County prosecutor’s office also investigated the case, but did not file criminal charges.
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1. RMJTurner says: "It takes abuse, neglect and death to draw attention to an ongoing failing system. It takes more abuse, neglect, and deaths for hearings. How much abuse, neglect and death will it take to institute real change rather than just the promise of it?" Robin Turner - The Family Alliance To Stop Abuse & Neglect
