The Health Service Executive has started legal proceedings against a private nursing home following the death of a patient who ingested a latex glove.
67-year-old James Griffi, from Canon Street in Waterford, was an Alzheimer's patient at the Mowlam nursing home in Ballinakill in Waterford city.
In November 2008, Mr Griffin was taken to hospital when a glove was found in his airway. He died five days later.
The HSE is taking the case against the nursing home over an alleged breach of care regulation.
Waterford District Court was told this morning that when paramedics were called to the nursing home, Mr Griffin was lying on the floor of his room, unable to breathe and without a pulse.
Two care assistants were giving him CPR.
The two paramedics took over and they managed to remove a glove from the patient's airway and stimulate his heart.
He was then brought to Waterford Regional Hospital but never recovered. He died five days later.
The nursing home is pleading not guilty.
