Harold Hick’s annual golf vacation to Orlando turned into a tragedy after a trip to a local hospital. Fit and active, the golfer and tireless community volunteer, Hicks was dead at 67. Barbara Hicks said that her husband had great plans for his retirement, including teaching his wife how to play golf and spending free time together.
After hitting the links and local restaurants in Orlando, Hicks developed stomach pains annoying enough that they warranted a trip to the Osceola Regional Medical Center. The doctors at the hospital diagnosed him with a blocked intestine that required surgery, says the family’s lawsuit against the doctor.
The surgeon ordered Hicks’ bloated stomach to be pumped before the operation started which is a preferred procedure that should have been followed, however, the nurses failed to accomplish it. Additionally, the lawsuit states that Dr. Scott Wurm ordered a breathing tube inserted, and did not stay to supervisor during anesthesia. Hicks threw up after the nurse inserted the tube and then breathed vomit into his lungs, nearly suffocating him and causing brain damage. The patient died a day later from a massive infection from the contamination inhaled, as a direct result of medical negligence. The insurer reportedly paid a $1 million settlement to Hicks’ estate due to the doctor’s absence during the procedure.
An Orlando injury lawyer can provide guidance if you have been injured because of medical center and hospital negligence.
