67-Year-Old Man Died After He Was Wrongly Fed Jello by Hospital Workers, Court Hears

Mar. 15, 2025

Eddie Cassin.Photo:Family handout/Fieldfisher

Family handout/Fieldfisher

An elderly man with swallowing difficulties died at a hospital in England after he was wrongly fed jello, a court has heard.

Eddie Cassin and his sister Terese.Family handout/Fieldfisher

Fieldfisher — who represented Cassin’s family at the inquest — added that he had been “on a modified diet and required supervision when eating to mitigate aspiration risk.”

“Jelly (jello) was specifically and repeatedly highlighted in his notes as a food he should not be given,” they added in their release.

“Despite this, he was repeatedly fed [jello] throughout his stay in hospital, including on the 24th June. That day he was generally ‘out of sorts’ with little appetite,” the law firm’s post continued.

The victim had been “admitted to hospital after falling at his care home and at the start of June was fit and waiting to be discharged to a new care home,” the firm said.

Aspiration pneumonia is “a pulmonary infection” that damages “the lower respiratory tract,” according to theNational Institutes of Health(NIH).

“Individuals with learning disabilities or gastrointestinal and neurologic disorders that disrupt normal swallowing function are also at heightened risk,” the description added.

Eddie Cassin and his sister Mary.Family handout/Fieldfisher

Cummings said that neglect contributed to Cassin’s death, and if he’d been treated for his developing aspiration pneumonia, he likely wouldn’t have died when he did, the Record of Inquest confirmed.

The assistant coroner added that the victim’s diabetes had reportedly been “difficult to manage” and that there had been “several alterations to his insulin regime.”

“Because he was not adequately supervised, Mr. Cassin was left with food and medication in his mouth, which caused him to aspirate (inhale),” Fieldfisher added in its post. “Medical staff did not recognize this and the coroner concluded it exacerbated his already developing aspiration pneumonia.”

The Record of Inquest stated that on June 24, 2023, Cassin had suffered a hypoglycaemic episode that required treatment, but the hospital guidelines were reportedly not followed.

Hypoglycemia “needs immediate treatment” and “is a condition in which your blood sugar (glucose) level is lower than the standard range,” per theMayo Clinic.

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“Furthermore, we have made meaningful changes to policy and practice to prevent similar incidences happening in the future. We will respond to His Majesty’s Coroner’s Prevention of Future Deaths notice in full,” the statement concluded.

“Eddie loved nothing more than a party with his family and being sociable. It was so difficult not [to] feel happy and even elated when he was around and he truly touched the lives of many,” they added.

source: people.com