Society

Tokyo High Court acquits assistant nurse in suit over doughnut death

Jul 29 (Japan Times) - A high court scrapped on Tuesday a lower court ruling and acquitted an assistant nurse over a 2013 incident in which an 85-year-old woman at a care home in central Japan died after eating a doughnut she was given.

The Tokyo High Court found 60-year-old Kesae Yamaguchi not guilty of negligence, saying her provision of a doughnut as a snack did not violate a duty of care under the Penal Code.

In March last year, the Matsumoto chapter of the Nagano District Court found Yamaguchi guilty of negligence resulting in death after recognizing she was responsible for checking what food the woman was given, as her snack had been designated as jelly. The court fined her Â¥200,000 ($1,894).

The case has attracted public attention as it is rare for individuals, rather than facility operators, to be criminally charged over faulty care.

The woman at the care home in Azumino, Nagano Prefecture, ate a doughnut provided as a snack on Dec. 12, 2013, and died about a month later due to brain damage from lack of oxygen.

Source: ANNnewsCH

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