Wrongful Death Suit Filed By Ivyland Mother Over Daughter's Care

PHILADELPHIA, PA —A wrongful death lawsuit was filed Tuesday alleging gross negligence in the death eight months ago of Cheryl Yewdall.

Attorneys for the family of 50-year-old Yewdall, who was severely disabled and required 24/7 supervision from the staff at Merakey’s Woodhaven residential campus in Philadelphia state in the lawsuit that she was left unsupervised in the bathroom and found on the floor with a six-inch cleaning wipe lethally lodged in her trachea.

The multi-count lawsuit indicates, based on the pre-filing investigation by lawyers from Stark & Stark, P.C., of Yardley, and The Pepper Law Firm, LLC, “that a staff member at Merakey Woodhaven placed the cleaning wipe in Cheryl Yewdall’s trachea.”

Lead plaintiff attorneys Joseph A. Cullen, of Stark & Stark, and James J. Pepper, of The Pepper Law Firm, who jointly represent the family and estate of Ms. Yewdall assert in the filing, believed to be the first of its kind against the residential care home at 2900 Southampton Rd., Philadelphia, and several of its corporate affiliates including Merakey USA and NHS Human Services, Inc. , that, “In the alternative, Merakey Woodhaven’s gross negligence in their care of Cheryl Yewdall enabled Cheryl or some other person to insert the cleaning wipe in her trachea.”

In a statement, Merakey said "denies any responsibility for her death, and to our knowledge, there have been no official findings concerning the circumstances surrounding her death"

Merakey said it has cooperated with local and state authorities in the investigation and said it will continue to cooperate with all requests.

The death of Cheryl Yewdall was a serious and tragic incident. She was a valued member of the Merakey community, and we were honored to have had her in our care for more than 40 years.

While more than one dozen members of her care team are referred to in the complaint, none are individually named as defendants. It also asserts unspecified claims for both compensatory and punitive damages, along with a request for a jury trial in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. Cheryl died Jan. 31 following the Jan. 26th incident.

Cheryl’s mother, Christine Civatte, of Ivyland, issued a statement through her attorneys:

“Cheryl was an incredibly special person, so loving and so innocent. Despite being born with cerebral palsy, she was aware of her surroundings, her family, and treated people with respect and love. We believed we were doing the right thing by her when we decided to entrust her to the care of the staff at Merakey Woodhaven, based largely on their pledge to do everything possible to love and care for her as a member of their family. We’re now turning to the justice system not only to find out every detail about how she died, but to ensure that what happened to her can’t happen to others.”

Cheryl was the oldest of four children; she lived at the Woodhaven site for about 40 years.

What happened to Cheryl is absolutely heart-wrenching, and on behalf of her family, we look forward to holding the defendants accountable at trial," Cullen said. "We intend to prove that those we believe were responsible – that were entrusted with her care – ultimately caused Cheryl to suffer multiple traumatic injuries due to, among other things, their failure to adequately supervise Cheryl and protect her from physical abuse. Merakey touts its Greek-inspired name stands for selfless caring for those most in need; but it acted in an indefensible manner that must be addressed in a court of law.”

Medical staff at nearby Jefferson Health/Northeast, to which she was rushed after first responders attended to her at the scene, reported her death was the result of “the most severe possible diffuse cerebral dysfunction, characteristic of severe diffuse anoxic brain injury.”

Those same physicians alerted Philadelphia Police, and their findings were confirmed by the Philadelphia’s Medical Examiner’s Office, the suit states.

Merakey facilities in Pennsylvania, including Woodhaven, have been the subject of scrutiny by Pennsylvania regulators, the lawsuit states.

Over the last six months, the Pennsylvania Department of Health recommended both a “23-day termination” (of the facility’s operating agreement with the Department) action (February 9, 2022) and a “90-day termination action” for Merakey Woodhaven (July 21, 2022). State regulators also recommended a “90-day termination action” for Merakey Allegheny - Pittsburgh (April 26, 2022).

In one report, inspectors said, “the facility failed to implement procedures that prohibit neglect in the provision of services for an acute health condition that required emergency care.”

Merakey said, in regards to questions about state inspections of the facility, that it acknowledges the existence of the inspection reports filed earlier this year.

"Since that time, we have filed and implemented comprehensive plans for correction that were approved by the state, and the state has acknowledged that the facility is now in compliance," Merakey said in its statement.