NEW CASTLE, Pa. — A former personal care administrator has been sentenced to prison after she was convicted of neglecting to renew a patient’s medications, which caused a deadly seizure.
Kelly Gonzales, 50, of New Castle, worked as a personal care administrator for ARC of Lawrence County.
A resident in her care home, who suffered from a seizure disorder, died from a fatal seizure in December 2021.
Prosecutors said Gonzales failed to renew his prescription for medication that could have prevented the seizure from happening. The man went without the medication for over 10 days before his death.
She was charged with felony counts of neglect of a care-dependent person and tampering with records and misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter in November 2023.
Information shared by District Attorney Dave Sunday on Wednesday said that Gonzales was sentenced to up to three years in prison following her February conviction. She was also ordered to pay $5,093 in restitution and is “prohibited from serving in a personal care capacity while on supervision.”
Criminal documents said the man who died had “levels of anti-seizure medication in his system were well below therapeutic levels.”
Sunday said Gonzales knew the prescription had run out and that two of her colleagues told her to take the victim to a hospital to have his medication refilled, but she did not.
In 2023, prosecutors said Gonzales falsely altered medical records to indicate that the prescription had been discontinued after the victim’s death.
“This is a heartbreaking case not only due to the loss of life, but because this death was preventable,” Sunday said. “This was, pure and simple, a catastrophic failure of duty to protect and care for a patient whose life depended on prescription medication.”
Senior Deputy Attorney General Christopher R. Sherwood and Deputy Attorney General Peter Caravello prosecuted this case.
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