A special prosecutor brought involuntary manslaughter charges against Michiganβs chief medical executive in relation to the Flint, Mich., water crisis on Monday.
Stateβs Attorney General Todd Flood announced the manslaughter charge against Dr. Eden Wells before her hearing on other charges tied to Flint, including obstruction of justice.
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The Associated Press reports that Flood said heβs expanding the case βbased on new review of other documents and testimony that came out last weekβ at a hearing for Nick Lyon, who works with Wells as director of the stateβs Health and Human Services Department.
Wells is the sixth person, including Lyon, to be charged with involuntary manslaughter tied to an outbreak of Legionnairesβ disease in the Flint area.
Prosecutors allege that officials knew about the spike in cases of the deadly bacterial pneumonia but did not inform the public until January 2016.
Twelve people died, and more than 100 were infected with the disease, according to AP.
βI really canβt get into the details of it,β Flood said, according to Mother Jones, βbut I think weβd be derelict if we didnβt charge her.β
Read more at U.S. News & World Report and Mother Jones.
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