Family Suing U.S. for Medical Malpractice and Wrongful Death

Christina Cole

Contributor

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In November 2004, Patricia, a former sergeant, went to Eisenhower Army Medical Center at Fort Gordon for simple hernia surgery. Only, when the surgeon went in to operate, he punctured her liver.

The doctor's failure to run pre-operative tests caused her to lose half of her body's blood supply, causing her to be in a coma for the next four months.

"It's basically a mistake that should have never been made," said Tabitha, her daughter, who was 15 years old at the time. From there, she watched her mother's health slowly decline.

"She was depressed, and she didn't want to get out, didn't want to go anywhere. "She just wanted to stay at home."

In September 2005, the physical and emotional pain was too much for her bare and she doused herself with gasoline and set herself on fire. Her husband believes that what happened to his wife in Fort Gordon attributed to her taking her own life.

Tuesday, a multimillion dollar lawsuit claiming wrongful death and medical malpractice was filed. Attorneys are waiting on a response from the U.S. government.