74-year-old veteran died after being bitten all over his body by fire ants at a VA facility
The family of an Air Force veteran who died after being bitten by fire ants all over his body while at a Department of Veterans Affairs long-term care facility near ‘Atlanta must sue the US government with a pest control company.
Joel Marrable, 74, died in September 2019 from more than 100 fire ant stings while residing at Eagles Nest Community Living Center, a veterans long-term living facility near Atlanta.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Atlanta, family claims managers for the VA and Orkin and its parent company Rollins Inc. “failed to respond appropriately or reasonably to the infestation of fire ants in Mr. Marrable’s room”.
Marrable was already bedridden because of his cancer.
Joel Marrable was swollen with red bumps all over his body at the Atlanta nursing home last week
Marrable was first moved to another room but as soon as he returned he was attacked again
He was “bitten over a hundred times despite ‘the facility’ being aware of previous ant infestation problems at the Eagle Nest CLC, the ineffectiveness of previous investigative efforts into the origins of the infestations, failure of prior treatment or remediation efforts, improper use of certain chemicals, inadequate training, and foreseeable risks, dangers and harms of fire ant bites to patients, including Mr. Marrable,” according to the lawsuit. .
The lawsuit was filed by Marrable’s children, Laquna Ross, Jamal Ratchford and Raquel Reed, who are seeking $10 million each in compensation from the US government and pest control company Orkin.
Marrable had served in the Air Force from December 1962 until his honorable discharge in July 1968 according to the New York Times.
The family says Eagles Nest officials were aware of the fire ant infestation as early as February 2019, with several residents experiencing fire ant bites or infestations in June 2019.
Joel Marrable, who was covered in ant bites at a VA facility in Atlanta before his death in September 2019
Marrable was bitten by fire ants on September 2, 2019. He was washed and moved to another room.
After returning to his room three days later, he “was again attacked by another wave of fire ants, which again crawled through his room, into his bed and again and again over his body, where he was again bitten dozens and dozens of times.”
Marrable’s family say that before the ant bites, Marrable was “lucid and alert” and “planned to live out his remaining months in peace, surrounded by loving friends and family”.
After the injections, everything seemed to change.
“The ant bite attack significantly weakened Mr. Marrable’s resolve and caused extreme pain, suffering, discomfort and anxiety. The second wave of fire ants which again bit Mr. Marrable on the arms, legs, trunk and groin proved too much for his weakened body and mind to bear. Due to the effects of over a hundred insidious fire ant stings on his already cancer-weakened body, Mr. Marrable died prematurely on September 7, 2019.
The lawsuit accuses Eagle Nest staff of negligence in their failure to: prevent the fire ant infestation; remove insect-attracting foods from patient rooms; and keep the rooms clean. Orkin officials were negligent in failing to provide “proper and adequate pest control services” at the time.
He was bitten more than 100 times by ants at the government veterans home, Eagle’s Nest Community Living Center. The facility has since been decommissioned
VA officials declined to comment on the lawsuit.
“The Atlanta VA health care system continues to mourn the loss of Joel Marrable. We extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends. However, we do not comment on ongoing litigation.
Orkin officials say they are reviewing the issues raised in the lawsuit.
“We only became aware of this lawsuit yesterday afternoon and we are looking into the matter. Based on our initial review, our records indicate that we were only hired to perform limited outdoor pest control services for part of the campus in 2019 and were not hired to perform outdoor pest control services. indoor pest control. We will continue our review and, most importantly, our thoughts are with this veteran’s family.
“This patient, at the end of his life, was clearly not being watched closely enough,” Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Johnny Isakson, R-Ga, said at the time. “I’m so sad for his family who had to find out about his bug infestation conditions before anything was done.”
VA officials have determined that “the building is no longer suitable for residential patient care,” according to a December statement.
Following Marrable’s death, the regional network director was placed on immediate administrative leave, a new director was appointed, and all staff involved in reporting urgent issues were retrained.
VA officials have since decided to decommission the Eagles Nest facility and move patients to another.
VA officials have determined that “the building is no longer suitable for residential patient care,” according to a December statement.
“There is no excuse for what happened to this veteran,” said Brewster S. Rawls, an Army veteran and one of the attorneys representing Marrable’s family. “Not only was his life – and his family’s time with him – cut short, but the misery of his final days is indescribable.”