The family of a 93-year-old woman who died after nursing home workers served her a toxic chemical instead of juice are suing the facility for alleged negligence and wrongful death. Trudy Maxwell perished two “excruciating days” after she and two other elderly residents were given the poisonous cleaning liquid, which, according the nursing home, looked like cranberry juice and was accidentally served to them from a pitcher. “The toxic chemical essentially melted the lining of Trudy’s digestive tract,” the lawsuit says. Peter Schroder Jr., 93, also died after being hospitalized on Aug. 27. “Their job is to keep senior citizens safe, and they did the opposite of that. They snuffed out a life,” Maxwell family lawyer Niall McCarthy told The Washington Post. Atria Senior Living insists it was an “isolated” incident. “We take this incident very seriously,” the facility said in a statement to the Post. “We’re continuing to work with authorities and the Department of Social Services to fully review and assess the incident.”
