Doctors find maggots in a Florida nursing home patient's eye socket

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. - Maggots were reportedly found in the eye socket of a resident of Florida nursing home.

In a story first reported in the Palm Beach Post , the 76-year-old man was in the care of Gainesville Health Care Center when doctors made the discovery.

Nursing home officials deny any responsibility.

They sent this statment to NewsChannel 5:

"Gainesville Health Care Center is committed to providing quality care to our residents. It is an unfortunate situation however, this resident was able to make his own decisions and his continued non compliance led to a serious infection. According to Florida State Statue 400.022, a resident has a right to refuse medication and/or treatment and be informed of the consequences of such decisions. Therefore, in this case, the resident had the right to refuse care. Gainesville Health Care Center staff discovered the maggots and immediately sent this resident to the hospital for evaluation and treatment.

The Agency for Health Care Administration and Department of Children and Family Services have both conducted investigations of the facility and facility practices related to this incident. As a result, there have been no areas of non compliance related to neglect, mistreatment, abuse or overall care."

The center is a part of a chain that includes Glades Health Center in Pahokee.

There have been no reports of problems at that facility.