Veteran was covered in fire ant bites before dying at Georgia VA facility, suit says
A 74-year-old Air Force veteran living at a long-term care facility in Georgia was attacked by two waves of fire ants in the days leading up to his death, his family says.
More than 100 bites covered his body when staff at the VA’s Eagles’ Nest Community Living Center in Atlanta found him, largely immobile, in his bed after the first attack, according to federal court filings. Dozens more reportedly appeared after a second invasion.
He died two days after the last attack on Sept. 7, 2019.
Now the family of Joel Marrable is suing the federal government, the pest control company Orkin and its parent organization Rollins Inc. for negligence, saying in a wrongful death lawsuit filed in federal court Monday that their failure to adequately address a fire ant infestation at the facility contributed to his death.
“As a consequence, Mr. Marrable suffered severe harm, and, following the second wave of fire ant bites, his condition rapidly declined, and he was left to die prematurely and in discomfort with with painful, itchy, inflamed bites ravaging his body,” the lawsuit said.
Laquna Ross, Marrable’s daughter and administrator of his estate, filed the complaint and is seeking at least $15 million in damages. Other family members named in the lawsuit have asked for at least $5 million.
Facility to be torn down
Attorneys representing Marrable’s estate and a representative for Orkin did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment Wednesday.
An Orkin spokesperson told the Military Times that records show the company was “only hired to perform limited exterior pest control services for some of the campus during 2019 and were not hired to perform interior pest control services.”
Gregory Kendall, spokesperson for the Atlanta VA Health Care System, said in a statement that it still mourns the loss of Marrable.
“We send our deepest condolences to his family and friends,” he said. “However, we do not comment on pending litigation.”
Eagles’ Nest was operated by the Atlanta VA Health Care System under the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Southeast Network until it closed in December. The VA opted to permanently shut down the facility “after determining the building is no longer suitable for residential patient care,” according to a news release announcing the decision.
The Atlanta VA Health Care System is planning to construct a new “state-of-the art facility” in its absence and will add long-term care beds to an existing facility at the Atlanta VA’s Trinka-Davis Veterans Village, the release states.
Local officials had recommended that the facility be torn down because “an infestation of fire ants couldn’t be eradicated,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported in December, citing internal VA documents. The 34 residents living at Eagles’ Nest had already been transferred to other facilities in Alabama, South Carolina and Georgia in April to prevent them from being exposed to the coronavirus.
Fire ants ‘moved unchecked’
When Eagles’ Nest was still in operation over the summer of 2019, Monday’s lawsuit alleges fire ants were discovered in several residents’ rooms and shared facilities.
Internal reports documenting both the ant infestation and other “unsanitary conditions” date to at least June 4, 2019, according to the complaint, and Orkin’s services were reportedly requested as early as February 2019. Orkin is accused of failing to adequately inspect the facility during its visits and using chemicals and pesticides not effective against fire ants.
The infestation first reached Marrable on Sept. 2, 2019, when the complaint said fire ants “moved unchecked across the walls and floors, up into Mr. Marrable’s bed, and all over Mr. Marrable’s body.”
“The staff member says to me, ‘When we walked in here, we thought Mr. Marrable was dead. We thought he wasn’t even alive, because the ants were all over him,’” his daughter Laquna Ross told CNN in 2019.
Marrable — who had advanced lung cancer — was covered in “well over” 100 bites, according to the lawsuit.
Staff bathed and temporarily relocated Marrable before returning him to his room, his family said. But another rash of fire ants appeared three days later on Sept. 5, 2019. This time, there were “dozens and dozens” of bites, according to the complaint.
Marrable’s family said he was lucid and conversational before the onslaught of fire ants, even discussing the activities he wanted to do with his remaining months.
“It was not expected that his death was imminent,” the lawsuit said.
But the attacks significantly weakened his resolve, and he died a few days later, according to the complaint.
The VA placed its regional director on administrative leave after Marrable’s death made national news. Several staffers were also moved out of patient-care roles, and a national review of Eagles’ Nest operations was conducted while personnel were retrained on how to properly report urgent issues, The Washington Post reported.
“What happened at Eagles’ Nest was unacceptable, and we want to ensure that Veterans and families know we are determined to restore their trust in the facility,” VHA Executive in Charge Richard Stone wrote in a statement, according to the Post.
But the family alleges Eagles’ Nest had a responsibility to its residents to keep their rooms sanitary and Orkin should have known how to control a fire ant infestation. The lawsuit makes claims for negligence, tort, compensatory damages and punitive damages.
This story was originally published February 3, 2021 at 6:52 PM with the headline "Veteran was covered in fire ant bites before dying at Georgia VA facility, suit says."
