Maxim Healthcare Sued for Letting Disabled Children Starve

SANDUSKY, Ohio - Nov. 6, 2014 - PRLog -- Maxim Healthcare, a national for-profit home healthcare company, has been sued in connection with the starvation death of a disabled child and the severe malnourishment of his disabled siblings.   The lawsuit, filed in the Erie County Common Pleas Court in Sandusky, Ohio, also names pediatrician Teresa Ramsey who practices in Lorain County, the Erie County Department of Jobs and Family Services, the Erie County Board of Developmental Disability, and the children’s grandmother Deborah Nelson.

         "Maxim was paid by Erie County to provide home nursing care to these medically-fragile children," said attorney Jack Landskroner.  "They knew this was a highly dysfunctional family.  Maxim took the taxpayer's money and then hired their grandmother to serve as their nurse."

         Deborah Nelson, along with the children's parents Adrianne Bartholomew and James Brothers, are currently serving prison terms related to the death of 18-month old Isaac Brothers Bartholomew and the neglect of his four brothers.   Isaac weighed just 12.2 pounds at the time of his death on November 6, 2012.  Three of his brothers, between the ages of 6 and 8, weighed less than 25 pounds.  A fifth boy, nearly three years old, weighed just 18 pounds.

         The Brothers Bartholomew's had seven children, six boys and a girl.  Five of the five boys (including Isaac) share a genetic condition which confines them to wheelchairs, prevents them from speaking, renders them incapable of independently bathing or toileting, and impaired their ability to swallow.  The lawsuit alleges the parents and children’s nurse-Grandmother delegated responsibility to feed at least three of the boys to their 11-year old brother.

         "The four surviving disabled boys were found covered in feces and vomit and malnourished to the point of being near death," said Landskroner.  "Maxim's lack of regard for the well-being of these children is unforgivable."

         The lawsuit also alleges that Dr. Ramsey committed medical negligence by ignoring the boys' failure to thrive during multiple well child visits.

         "These children looked like concentration camp survivors," said Landskroner, "Yet Dr. Ramsey and other professionals treated them like there was nothing wrong."

         The lawsuit, brought by the Cleveland law firm Landskroner Grieco Merriman, states that numerous complaints had been made raising concerns about suspected neglect of these children prior to the death of Isaac.  Erie County deemed these complaints unworthy of investigation despite the fact that the children had been placed under protective supervision by Cuyahoga County Children’s Services in 2007 after claims of medical neglect were substantiated while the family lived in that County.   The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services later found the Erie County Family Services to be non-compliant with the state’s administrative code for not investigating and for inappropriately closing an investigation into this family.

         “This is a tragedy of immense proportions and reflects a complete breakdown by all the care providers involved as well as the systems that are supposed to protect these kids,” said Jack Landskroner.  “Five children were starved while nurses, doctors and social workers looked on until a child finally died….and then they took notice.   The death of this child should never have happened.  You might see this type of tragedy in third world counties but not in America in the 21^st Century and this case is designed not only to address this wrongdoing but to shape future conduct so this never happens again,” added Landskroner.

A copy of the complaint can be found at https://www.teamlgm.com