A malpractice lawsuit has been filed against Mercy Hospital in Springfield.
The lawsuit, filed by plaintiff Skylar Baxter on behalf of the estate of Glenda Baxter-McDowell, alleges that delayed care by Mercy staff led to the death of Baxter-McDowell.
According to the suit, Baxter-McDowell was a 51-year-old woman who came to Mercy Hospital’s ER with severe abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting that had troubled her for three days.
Despite these severe, persistent symptoms and Baxter-McDowell’s medical history of bowel obstruction, the suit claims that ER staff left her untreated for 12 hours.
Her condition deteriorated as she suffered through dehydration, potential bowel strangulation, and allegedly developing sepsis while in the waiting room.
According to the suit, the patient was taken to a treatment room to be checked by a physician, where a friend of hers warned the physician that the patient should not be laid on the room’s gurney, as her continuous vomiting could result in aspiration.
The physician allegedly ignored the warning and told Baxter-McDowell to lie down on the gurney, where she immediately began to vomit, aspirating the vomit into her lungs and suddenly suffered cardiac arrest.
After 12 minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, spontaneous circulation was achieved, according to the suit.
However, the prolonged cardiac arrest allegedly caused severe shock to the patient’s organs and systems, and she died three days later; her cause of death being listed as “acute respiratory syndrome secondary to aspiration pneumonia”, the lawsuit alleges.
After Baxter-McDowell’s death, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (MDHSS) conducted an on-site complaint investigation on July 11, 2023 and determined that the hospital had failed to meet regulations related to the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).
The suit claims that Mercy’s EMTALA violation contributed to the delay that led to the deterioration and death of Baxter-McDowell, and requests damages to be paid in an amount that will be determined at trial.
A court date for the trial has yet to be set, and Mercy has yet to comment on the suit.