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3 women face charges in Boardman patient's death
BOARDMAN
Three women are charged in connection with a patient death at a township nursing home after a state investigation.
Johonna Hull, 28, of Canfield is charged with tampering with records and patient abuse/gross neglect; Brenda Lamancusa, 40, of Girard is charged with patient abuse/gross neglect; and Beth Bowman, 51, of Wellsville is charged with tampering with records and patient abuse/neglect.
The charges stem from an incident reported June 29, 2015, at Greenbriar Healthcare Center on South Avenue.
Michael McBride, an assistant Mahoning County prosecutor, said the charges relate to the death of a patient at the facility.
“Evidence indicated, and the autopsy showed, that a gentleman ... was mistakenly given the wrong medication. He was given an opiate rather than what he was prescribed to get,” said McBride, noting that the victim was about 70 years old. “Ultimately he passed away. The charges are largely over not only the mistake in providing him that medication, but probably even more importantly, the lack of action that was taken by the staff at Greenbriar.”
Those findings come from the Ohio Attorney General Office’s health care fraud section, which investigated the matter.
The case is being prosecuted in Mahoning County Area Court here. All of the charges are first-degree misdemeanors, punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Court records indicate that Hull is scheduled to appear in court July 25 for a hearing, and Lamancusa is scheduled for a hearing July 27. As of Tuesday, Bowman had not yet been served with the charges against her.
Greenbriar did not respond to a request for comment.