The case concerned suspected food poisoning that was alleged to have occurred on 5 December 2014 at the facility. The prosecutor’s office conducted the proceedings ex officio following reports published in local media on 10 December 2014.
After gathering and analyzing information obtained from the Social Welfare Home in Legnickie Pole, the District Sanitary and Epidemiological Station in Legnica and the Regional Specialist Hospital in Legnica, it was determined that the cause of the residents’ symptoms of food poisoning could not be established unequivocally.
Tests conducted by the Legnica sanitary authorities ruled out poisoning by a foodborne bacterium originating from food supplied by the company employed by the Social Welfare Home. A viral source of the infection, however, appeared highly probable. It was also established that the deaths of two female residents of the care home could not be linked to the symptoms experienced by residents of the facility. The cause of death of the two women was illness unrelated to the symptoms of diarrhea, vomiting and fever. The fact that the deaths occurred during the period when the residents displayed symptoms of poisoning does not justify the conclusion that they resulted from food poisoning. This is contradicted by the autopsy findings for one of the women and the medical history concerning the other patient’s illnesses.
Taking all the checks carried out into account, the prosecutor concluded that the residents of the Social Welfare Home in Legnickie Pole had not been exposed to a direct risk of loss of life or serious injury.
Legnica District Prosecutor’s Office/ii