A guardian for a disabled foster child who was injured at a troubled group home last year has sued the state contractor that ran the facility and the Maryland government agencies responsible for supervising its care.
The suit alleges that LifeLine Inc. and several state agencies were negligent in allowing 19-year-old David Davis to develop a deep bedsore in May. Davis, who is quadriplegic, contracted an infection that spread to his bones, the suit said.
LifeLine officials did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for the state health department, which is named as a defendant along with the Department of Human Resources, said the agency "has no obligation to respond" because the suit was filed in Pennsylvania.
The lawsuit, filed last week, seeks class-action status on behalf of others who were under LifeLine's care — including 10-year-old Damaud Martin, who died at the same Laurel-area home on July 2, and three disabled adults who died at a separate facility that state regulators closed in 2011.
Davis' injury and three-week hospitalization was caused by LifeLine's inadequate staffing, which allowed the bedsore to develop and led to "the rotting of the flesh," states the lawsuit filed by attorney Michael Pisanchyn of Scranton, Pa. Davis was not able to "call out for help or contact anyone" about his injury because of his disabilities, the suit says.
The lawsuit was not unexpected. In August, Pisanchyn notified the Maryland treasurer's office that he would seek monetary damages on behalf of Damaud and Davis, a necessary step before filing suit.
Maribeth Donohue, who has served as Davis' guardian for health and education matters and is named as a plaintiff with the teen, said, "David still has a drain for his wound and he can't be in a wheelchair for more than four hours." That has limited how long he can attend school, she said.
A Baltimore Sun investigation found that the state had awarded at least $18 million in contracts since 2010 to LifeLine despite years of problems: deficiencies in medical care, a founder imprisoned for arson, unpaid taxes, a bankruptcy filing, and police reports of abuse and neglect unknown to regulators.
Regulators threatened to close LifeLine after investigating the complaint about Davis in May, but the company's chief executive responded by saying LifeLine was shutting down its children's program because of inadequate state funding. Damaud died before the last of the children could be moved from LifeLine on July 3.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages to cover medical expenses and punitive damages for Davis' pain and suffering. It also asks the state to change its oversight of group homes.