January 19, 2012
A Fayetteville, North Carolina, hospital is at risk of losing it’s funding from Medicaid and Medicare tonight in response to the death of a mentally ill patient. Reports from ABC 13 News say that the 27-year-old patient died after being put in a chokehold by a security guard at the Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in October of last year.
Video from a surveillance camera at the hospital shows the patient being tackled to the ground by security and choked. When the patient stops resisting and is released, he lies on the ground, unconscious for nearly three minutes before any effort is made to resuscitate the man. He was later declared dead, but a criminal investigation did not begin until a coroner ruled the death a homicide.
The hospital could potentially lose as much as $23 million a month if its funding is cut.
This is not the first time the hospital has faced scrutiny. The Fayetteville Observer reports that the State Department of Health and Human Services began investigating the facility in December of last year after a cancer patient died less than an hour after being involuntarily discharged from the facility. The hospital also has numerous complaints for extremely long wait times and mistreatment of patients.
The North Carolina Medical Malpractice Attorneys with HensonFuerst would advise anyone who believes they’ve been harmed by a doctor or staff member to immediately contact a lawyer to discuss the claim.
