Georgia medical center is accused of ‘playing God’ by fabricating TWO HUNDRED do not resuscitate orders on patients who did not have the capacity to sign them

• Roselane Health and Rehabilitation allegedly fabricated 194 DNRs 
• The Georgia healthcare facility photocopied DNRs with signatures before mandated evaluations took place
• Leona Milne’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the center for not resuscitating her when she had difficulty breathing because of her ‘DNR’

A rehabilitation facility in Georgia is being investigated after 194 ‘do-not-resuscitate’ orders were placed on patients who did not have the capacity to sign them, according to InvestigateTV. 

‘Do Not Resuscitate’ orders- or DNRs – are medical orders written by doctors and assigned to patients who have decided not to receive resuscitation (CPR) if their death is imminent.

Medical staff at Roselane Health and Rehabilitation in Marietta, Georgia, have been accused of ‘playing God’ after they issued DNRs to patients without their consent.

Leona Milne died in 2018 at the age of 73 when being treated as a temporary patient the Rehab center for an infected toe. 

The 73-year-old was born with a mental disability and had the cognitive ability of a nine or 10-year-old as an adult. 

Leona Milne died in 2018 at the age of 73 when being treated as a temporary patient the Rehab center for an infected toe. The 73-year-old was born with a mental disability and had the cognitive ability of a nine or 10-year-old as an adult

Milne’s brother Chuck Milne said he received a call from nurse’s at the facility who informed him that his sister was having difficulty breathing – but when he showed up at the center, Leona was dead

She was described as ‘very gregarious, very outgoing,’ by her brother – who said she ‘loved attention’.

Milne’s brother Chuck Milne said he received a call from nurse’s at the facility who informed him that his sister was having difficulty breathing – but when he showed up at the center, Leona was dead.

Milne had begged the nurses to take his sister to the hospital when she struggled to breathe – but they refused because she had signed a DNR, according to the workers.

‘I told the nurse she didn’t have the mental capabilities to sign one,’ Milne said.

He told the worker ‘you don’t understand, she’s not capable of signing a DNR.’

Leona’s family brought a wrongful death lawsuit against the Roselane’s former medical director Dr. Sara Sambandham – who was the physician ultimately responsible for Leona’s treatment during her time at the facility.

When the case was first brought about – the wrongful death charge was referring to Leona’s inability to sign a DNR – but as the lawsuit developed investigators discovered a far deeper issue.

Leona’s family brought a wrongful death lawsuit against the Roselane’s former medical director Dr. Sara Sambandham – who was the physician ultimately responsible for Leona’s treatment during her time at the facility

Patients were prompted to sign off on their DNRs without a doctor’s evaluation. In Leona’s case – her form was signed by a physician who didn’t even work at the facility at any point during her the 73-year-old’s stay. Sambandham, who claims she didn’t know this was happening and denied wrongdoing.

A social worker from the Georgia facility confessed that the correct and legal procedures for issuing a DNR were not being followed at Roselane.

According to Georgia medical laws – two doctors are required to evaluate a patient before a DNR order is placed on someone mentally disabled and then sign off on it.

Before the DNR is officially confirmed – it must go to an ethics committee.

The social worker revealed that these practices were not being followed by the doctors at Roselane.

It was eventually uncovered that workers at the rehab center were photocopying pre-signed DNRs before even evaluating the patient.

‘Well, the process at that time is that we had pre-signed DNR forms just as this one. They were already pre-signed,’ said the social worker in the videotaped deposition. ‘I had them in my notebook. We had them when we went to see our residents.’ 

Patients were prompted to sign off on their DNRs without a doctor’s evaluation.

In Leona’s case – her form was signed by a physician who did not work at the facility at any point during her the 73-year-old’s stay.

‘She had been gone for seven months before the DNR was ever executed in our case was ever executed,’ the family’s attorney Mike Prieto said.

Prieto’s law firm discovered almost 200 other DNR orders that had been photocopied – all under the supervision of Sambandham, who claims she didn’t know this was happening and has denied wrongdoing.

Milne settled a civil lawsuit with SavaSeniorCare – who owned the Roselane facility – for an undisclosed amount of money.

Roselane was not the only facility found to be ordering DNRs for mentally impaired patients who are incapable of giving consent.

Grace Schara died at the age of 19 after contracting COVID-29 and being sent to St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Grace Schara died at the age of 19 after contracting COVID-29 and being sent to St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton, Wisconsin. The patient had Down Syndrome – but her dad Scott Schara said her disability never slowed her down. Medical staff asked Grace’s family if they wanted her to be resuscitated if things went downhill – but a DNR was never mentioned

When things did go downhill with Grace on October 13, 2021, staff at the hospital didn’t allow the family to enter the room the 19-year-old was in – and yelled at them ‘she’s DNR’

The patient had Down Syndrome – but her dad Scott Schara said her disability never slowed her down.

Medical staff asked Grace’s family if they wanted her to be resuscitated if things went downhill – but a DNR was never mentioned.

When asked if the family would ever request a DNR order – Schara answered: ‘Absolutely not. Why would we ever request it? It makes no sense. We were expecting our daughter to get out of there. We’re not expecting her to die.’

When Grace’s health declined on October 13, 2021, family said staff at the hospital did not allow them to enter the room – and yelled at them ‘she’s DNR’.

The family members begged ‘she’s not DNR save our daughter’ – but the nurses refused.

But the hospital supposedly did not break the law because of the location.

‘Wisconsin’s Statute does not apply to physicians operating in a hospital, non-emergency setting,’ a spokesperson from the agency told InvestigateTV.

A written DNR order is not necessarily required when the doctor works outside an emergency department or an out-of-hospital emergency setting – like St. Elizabeth Hospital.

This doesn’t make sense to Grace’s dad, who said: ‘How can someone be immune from liability for killing somebody?’

Grace’s family maintained that they did not request a DNR because they didn’t expect their daughter to die during her time in the medical facility – they expected her to return home.    

The hospital allegedly received clear consent from the family to place the patient on a DNR and claimed they had three conversations confirming this with family members. 

DailyMail.com approached both health care facilities for comment on the lawsuits.  

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