by Health Impact News/MedicalKidnap.com Staff

Julius Corley Dies in Pain Despite His Families Efforts to Save His Life

Laredo Regular relates the tragic ending of this World War II Veterans’ life:

My Grandpa, Julius Corley, officially passed away on Thanksgiving afternoon after being on life support in the prior weeks. He never got to come home.

Julius’ story began long before Health Impact News was contacted about his plight in the fall of 2015. Julius was a World War II Veteran being held at New York’s Montefiore Hospital allegedly against his will and those of his legal and medical guardians.

See original story here:

Adult Medical Kidnapping in New York: 1950s Air Force Veteran Held Hostage in Hospital 

Julius had been medically kidnapped by Montefiore when he was transferred from their affiliate, The Laconia Nursing Home, after the family says they filed a complaint about the conditions there. Laconia stated the reason for his transfer was loss of appetite, however Julius allegedly spent a week at Montefiore Wakefield without the staff ever confirming the nursing home allegations. Instead, Montefiore Wakefield reportedly drew up a list of their own ailments without ever reviewing any of the records sent from Laconia which outlined Julius’ dementia, diabetes, and blindness due to glaucoma. Montefiore began treating Julius for Parkinson’s disease which the family claims was non-existent.

After several meetings with city, state, and medical officials, the Regular’s were denied access to their loved one by Montefiore despite these officials’ statements to the family that the hospital had no legal right to hold Julius. After almost four months, pneumonia, and extreme weight loss, it would be determined by a judge that Julius should have a feeding tube inserted into his stomach.

Julius’ new records and the Regulars were summoned to a hospital hearing where Montefiore psychiatrists testified that it was Julius’ ‘dementia that was causing him to deny the insertion of a feeding tube into his stomach, a condition the hospital previously refused to recognize and would never treat until Corley was on his death bed. Our last update here at Health Impact News ended here. Since that time, sadly, Julius has died. We were contacted by Laredo with the details of his passing.

What Went Wrong?

In October of 2015, Julius was finally transferred out of Montefiore Wakefield to University Nursing Home. Laredo tells us:

They finally released my grandpa from the hospital back in October. Prior to this, I had sent a list of nursing homes that I wanted him to be transferred to. A female staff person and her boss went through the the list and gave me various reasons why he was not being accepted at any of the facilities–“too far, no room, they don’t take the insurance… Manhattan places don’t accept patients from this hospital”–but when I was visiting the facilities they asked where my grandpa would be transferred from, and when told, said it would be no problem.

Montefiore Wakefield hospital discharged him to University Nursing Home while he was underweight and with severe bedsores. He was not being fed. They tried to cover up all the issues that they created by transferring him to a nursing home with a sordid reputation. He was discharged to University Nursing Home at 2505 Grand Ave Bronx, NY in October (a place we didn’t choose) which was notorious for having had a patient impaled on an a broken table during an episode with staff. (News story.)

It was like a hospice– dark, dirty, and gloomy–it was not even handicap accessible. The nursing home informed us that my grandfather was discharged to them with stage 3 pressure ulcers.

“The nursing home informed us that my grandfather was discharged to them with stage 3 pressure ulcers,” said Laredo. Picture provided by family.

The Regulars inform us that they now have an attorney who is working with them. He met with the family at the nursing home on November 5, 2015. His visit was filled with questions:

Why was Julius discharged from the hospital with an oxygen machine and placed on numerous Parkinson’s medications even though he didn’t show any signs of the disease?

His questions went unanswered. Laredo explained to us that:

From early November, prior to November 13, we noticed things about my grandfather’s condition which included a consistent sleep like state, cold hands and feet. We spoke with individuals at the nursing home but it was brushed off and the social worker along with the nursing home director said, “he looked comfortable.”

Unable to improve his condition, University Nursing Home returned Julius to the Montefiore hospital system on the evening of November 13, 2015. The family states they were told he was being transferred due to “diabetic complications.” This time Julius was sent to the hospital’s main branch which was filled with interns. Laredo was not happy with this choice and stated that,

This hospital had been in the news because a patient was found dead in the bathroom of the hospital and had been there for a week. (See: Mother’s anguish: Why did it take Bronx hospital 5 days to find dead son?)

World War II Veteran Being Used as a Case Study for Inexperienced Interns?

According to the family, by November 14th, Julius was urinating blood, his ulcers were bleeding, and his entire body was swollen. The family further related that the “hospital’s staff was vague and alluded to a possible infection of some type.” The family was horrified that Julius’ colostomy bag was filled with bloody urine and kept searching for answers.

“The family was horrified that Julius’ colostomy bag was filled with bloody urine and kept searching for answers.” Picture provided by family.

Laredo said:

They tried to keep the reason behind it secret until we kept asking questions because he was urinating blood and swollen. We were finally told on November 16th that he had severe sepsis.

Montefiore staff person, Joseph Donnelly, was one of the individuals that told us dementia medication can cause sepsis, but he was not being treated for dementia and should not have been treated for Parkinson’s. They were treating him unnecessarily. I spoke to everyone I could when he was admitted to the Montefiore main branch and they would skirt the issues. I asked, if he had severe sepsis, why was he not admitted to ICU? The doctor, Dr. Serife Eti, a palliative doctor, told us that “ICU was only for patients who had a chance at survival.”

When questioned further, Joseph Donnelly admitted that himself and Jocelin Jones were residents and some of the other individuals there were either residents or interns.

After all of his suffering, was Julius now being used as a case study for practicing interns?

The family also alleged that the following day, the doctors stated that Julius needed to be “intubated due to his inability to breath on his own.” Intubation is the process of inserting a tube, called an endotracheal tube, through the mouth and then into the airway. This is done so that a patient can be placed on a ventilator to assist with breathing. The tube is then connected to a ventilator, which pushes air into the lungs to deliver a breath to the patient. (See: Intubation: What Is Intubation and Why Is It Done?)

“My Grandpa Never Got to Come Home. He Died in Pain at the Montefiore Main Branch.”

Julius Corley military photo supplied by family.

On November 19, 2015, the family says the hospital called and informed them that Julius Corley’s blood pressure was dropping and that he needed to be put on additional medication. The family went to the hospital that same evening and stated that they caught the staff trying to give Julius a blood transfusion without the family’s consent. The family questioned the transfusion and stated they were given various reasons from “anemia to low blood platelets.” The family stated:

They tried to give him a blood transfusion and didn’t tell us. They told us his blood was toxic. They never asked us.

By November 23rd, the family relates that they were told that Julius’ “liver and kidneys had begun to shut down and that Julius was in a comatose state.” While on his death bed and in a coma, Julius Corley was finally treated for his bruxism, which is a side effect of dementia, with muscle relaxers on the afternoon of his death. The Regular family lost their beloved Julius on Thanksgiving day. Laredo laments:

My grandpa never got to come home. He died in pain in the Montefiore main branch. It was painful. We had hopes, but to know that he was in pain like that and passed away is awful. The entire situation played out so awfully.

“My grandpa never got to come home.” Picture provided by family.