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Hospital accused of covering up fatal error in medical treatment

['Clark Kauffman', 'More From Author', '- November']

Date: 2021-11-04 00:00:00


The family of a 43-year-old Ankeny woman who died in 2019 is suing a Des Moines hospital, alleging the staff botched a medical procedure and then attempted to cover up their error.

The lawsuit alleges that Meredith Miller was injured in a car accident on Dec. 15, 2019, when the vehicle she was riding in, driven by her 15-year-old daughter, slid off a snow-covered Interstate 35 in Polk County and collided with a tree.

After being transported by ambulance to MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center, the lawsuit claims, Miller was treated by doctors and nurses who attempted to intubate her by inserting a tube through her mouth and down her throat to provide air for her lungs.

The medical personnel are alleged to have mistakenly routed the tube into Miller’s esophagus, rather than her trachea, which meant the tube blocked the passage of air into Miller’s lungs and instead sent air to her stomach. As a result, the lawsuit alleges, Miller’s oxygen levels quickly plummeted and she died within minutes.

After she was pronounced dead, the medical staff allegedly tried to properly intubate Miller “in an effort to cover up” what had transpired, the lawsuit claims. Later, the staff was not “forthcoming” about the cause of Miller’s death, the lawsuit alleges.

Esophageal intubation is a widely recognized and recurring issue in emergency medicine. One study of 300 emergency intubations in intensive-care settings reported an incidence of esophageal intubation in 8% of all cases. In each instance, the misplacement of the breathing tube was corrected before the patient sustained any lasting injury.

The lawsuit, filed in Polk County District Court, names 10 medical personnel as defendants in the case, some of whom are known to the plaintiff only by their first names, along with MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center.

Also named as defendants in the case are the Iowa Department of Transportation and Snyder & Associates, a private company the DOT hired in 2017 to survey the area where the accident later took place. The survey was one step in a process that was intended to clear away any trees and other objects that might prove to be hazardous.

The plaintiffs in the case are Miller’s husband, Darrin P. Miller, and one of his daughters. The defendants in the lawsuit have yet to file a response to the allegations.

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