“‘It’s sad he was feeling in such a desperate place in the end,’ says Lorie Juno of her father, Larry Anders.” / DARREN HAUCK / KAISER HEALTH NEWS

by Melissa Bailey and Jonel Aleccia – KAISER HEALTH NEWS

“When Larry Anders moved into the Bay at Burlington nursing home in late 2017, he wasn’t supposed to be there long. At 77, the stoic Wisconsin machinist had just endured the death of his wife of 51 years and a grim new diagnosis: throat cancer, stage 4.

“His son and daughter expected him to stay two weeks, tops, before going home to begin chemotherapy. From the start, they were alarmed by the lack of care at the center, where, they said, staff seemed indifferent, if not incompetent — failing to check on him promptly, handing pills to a man who couldn’t swallow.

“Anders never mentioned suicide to his children, who camped out day and night by his bedside to monitor his care.

“But two days after Christmas, alone in his nursing home room, Anders killed himself. He didn’t leave a note.”

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