$1.4M for Family of NJ Veteran Who Choked on Breakfast

A North Jersey veterans home has agreed to a $1.4 million settlement in a lawsuit in the choking death of a patient there.

New Jersey Veterans Memorial Home in Paramus settled the suit filed by Russell Larson’s Mahwah family in March, but it recently became official, the Associated Press reported.

Larson choked on his breakfast after he was left alone in his room on June 10, 2012, NorthJersey.com reported. His family claimed in the suit that the home failed to provide an “adequate nursing staff” for Larson.

Larson suffered from dementia and dysphagia, a swallowing disorder, and was supposed to be carefully watched whenever he ate, the website reported. The suit claims that Larson was brought his breakfast at 8 a.m. and was then left alone.

A nurse who went into Larson’s room 20 later to give him medication found him “blue and cyanotic” and performed the Heimlich maneuver on him but he died soon after, the suit states.

Larson’s daughter, Patricia, and her attorney declined to comment.

The facility, one of three nursing homes operated by the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, is open to all honorably discharged veterans, retired National Guard members, spouses of eligible veterans, and Gold Star parents - people whose children were killed in action while serving in the military.