76-Year-Old Patient Sitter Sentenced for Striking 'Paralyzed' Man, 68, with Remote Control for Hospital Bed

Mar. 15, 2025

Generic image of a hospital bed remote control.Photo:Getty

Getty

A 76-year-old patient sitter has been sentenced for assaulting a 68-year-old man with the remote control for a hospital bed.

On Tuesday, Dec. 10, Eleanor Flowers, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced for criminal abuse of a vulnerable adult and attempted threats following the Jan. 4, 2021 incident at Southeast Washington Hospital United Medical Center, per areleasefrom the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Columbia.

“Superior Court Judge Deborah J. Israel sentenced Flowers to 24 months of probation,” the release confirmed.

“As part of the sentencing, Flowers must also stay away from the victim and is prohibited from working, volunteering, or participating in any activity involving the elderly, vulnerable, cognitively disabled, or children, to include activities in hospitals, assisted living facilities, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, doctors’ offices, urgent care, and daycare,” the release added.

Hospital bed remote control hanging on the bed rail.Getty

Flowers had been employed as a patient sitter at the United Medical Center when she repeatedly struck the victim with the hospital bed’s remote controller while attempting to change his “soiled clothing,” court documents and evidence presented at the trial stated, per the release.

The victim was classified as a “vulnerable adult” after previously suffering a stroke, the release confirmed, adding that the man was “paralyzed on one side of his body” and “unable to speak” at the time of the incident.

Elderly woman’s hand with call button in a hospital bed.Getty

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U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Inspector General Daniel W. Lucas, both for the District of Columbia, announced the sentencing, and “commended the efforts of those who investigated and prosecuted the case,” which included the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Major Crimes Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

source: people.com