LOOMIS, Calif. – Officials say a California woman who served poisonous mushrooms to residents of an elder-care home has been barred from working in such facilities.
The Department of Social Services said Thursday that Lilia Tirdea of Citrus Heights can no longer work in licensed care facilities. She has 15 days to appeal the decision.
The department says the owner of the Golden Age Villa had told Tirdea to serve only store-bought food.
Tirdea told investigators she didn't know the mushrooms she found growing in the backyard of the Loomis facility were poisonous. Four people died, and Tirdea and another resident fell ill after eating soup she made from the fungi.
Tirdea could not immediately be reached for comment. The report says she still is ill and hasn't returned to work since the Nov. 8 incident.
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