Law seal reports although elder abuse is alleged

State officials say they can't make public their inspection reports for an Iowa City care center where elderly residents have allegedly been assaulted by their caregivers.

David Werning, spokesman for the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals, said the agency would like to make the reports public but is prohibited by law from doing so.

The assaults allegedly took place at Legacy Gardens of Iowa City, an assisted living center for 30 seniors with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia.

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Under Iowa law, inspection reports related to nursing homes and most other care facilities are made public and posted to a Web site as soon as they are finalized, but the law is different for state-licensed assisted-living centers. It states that inspectors' findings are not to be made public until all appeals have been exhausted - a process that can take years.

Des Moines Register