Hospitals: No comment on wrongful death suit
Officials at MetroWest Medical Center and UMass Memorial Medical Center have declined to comment on a wrongful death lawsuit filed in federal court this month, implicating both hospitals in connection with the death of a Milford woman in August 2013.
The husband of the deceased patient, a 47-year-old Milford woman, is alleging that doctors at both hospitals were negligent in the treatment of his wife, and that doctors at Leonard Morse Hospital in Natick, part of MetroWest Medical Center, violated the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor law requiring emergency departments to adequately treat patients with health emergencies regardless of insurance coverage.
According to court documents, the woman had sought care at Leonard Morse in July 2013 after she fell down several stairs. The suit alleges that she was diagnosed in the emergency room with fractured ribs and a punctured lung, but was sent home the same day with pain medications and told to return the next day for a follow-up examination.
The following day, the lawsuit states the patient’s condition had worsened and she was sent to a specialist within the hospital for assessment. But upon arriving in the specialist’s office, she was allegedly told her insurance wasn’t accepted and she left after being told she would have to pay $500 for the visit.
The patient then sought care at the Edward Kennedy Community Health Center in Framingham, where providers referred her to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester for treatment.
Her condition worsened over several days before the patient developed shock and died at the medical center on Aug. 6, 2013, with the cause of death listed as “blunt trauma to the torso,” said the lawsuit, filed at U.S. District Court in Worcester.
Abigail Williams, the Worcester-based attorney for the plaintiff and an advisor to health care professionals, said she believes the deceased patient should have been admitted for observation when she first sought treatment at Leonard Morse. According to Williams, the patient was Brazilian and there was a language barrier that may be been a factor in her treatment.
Williams, who is also a nurse, said it was inappropriate for the patient to be turned away by the specialist the next day after being referred for follow-up care and that the hospital had a responsibility to ensure she received proper care.
Regarding the negligence allegations, Williams said the discovery phase of the case will have to support the charges and she conceded that sometimes new facts come to light that explain doctors’ decisions in such cases.
Officials at UMass Memorial and MetroWest Medical Center said they could not comment on pending litigation.
The hospitals have until Aug. 20 to respond to the filing.
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