Man who died in Walnut Creek senior care facility drank poisonous substance: Coroner

A man who died at a senior care facility in Walnut Creek last year accidentally drank a poisonous liquid, according to an autopsy report from the Contra Costa County Coroner’s Office.

The final report on the death of 94-year-old Constantine Canoun said his Aug. 31, 2022 death was caused by “a caustic injury to [his] pharynx, esophagus and stomach” that was caused by an “ingestion of akaline cleaning solution.”

Canoun ingested the liquid and fell ill Aug. 23, four days before the deaths of two elderly men in San Mateo County that happened in similar fashion. Those deaths also happened at a facility owned by Kentucky-based Atria Senior Living.

A message left with the company’s media department Thursday was not returned immediately.

A lawsuit filed in San Mateo County Superior Court last September by the family of Maxwell and Peter Schroder Jr., both 93, claimed they died after staff at Atria Park of San Mateo served them cleaning fluid instead of juice on Aug. 27, 2022. That lawsuit also alluded to Canoun’s death, saying he drank fluid that had been left unattended Aug. 23.

Canoun died at a Walnut Creek hospital eight days after drinking the fluid. The lawsuit claims that the company lied to Canoun’s family, telling them he had become ill after eating “spicy chips.”

“That was an attempt to cover up Atria’s liability,” the lawsuit claims. “Constantine had suffered extreme burns and lesions to his throat, esophagus, and larynx. Those injuries were consistent with having ingested a poisonous liquid.”

The suit claims Atria “did nothing” to inform any of its staff or facilities about the death in Walnut Creek.