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Staffing was so inadequate at a California senior centre that a rat crawled into an Alzheimer's patient's mouth and died there before staff noticed, a lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of 90-year-old Sigmund Bock, alleges that administrators at the Paragon Gardens Assisted Living and Memory Care Community cut back on staff to increase profits.
Bock's lawyer Stephen Garcia said an emergency room file says that Bock was "found in room in care facility with dead rat in mouth".
Melody Chatelle, a spokeswoman for Sunwest Management, which operates Paragon, said the allegations were false. Bock is now at another facility.
