Teron Francis died after a trip to a Bronx dentist in Bronx Labanon Hospital.
Death Death Related To Dentist Visit Dropped By Feds
A two-pronged wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the mother of 13-year-old Teron Francis, who slipped into a coma and died after a trip to the dentist, has been derailed by the feds, the Daily News has learned.
Lawyer Robert Genis, who filed a suit against Bronx-Lebanon Hospital and its Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Health Center on behalf of the boy’s mother, Mercerlyn Francis, recently said the part of the case against the clinic will have to be withdrawn from Bronx Supreme Court.
He said the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office informed him that because the King center receives federal funding, that portion of the case would have to be tried in federal court.
Genis labeled the federal finding “ridiculous for a local malpractice lawsuit.” A Bronx jury would have a better understanding of the case, he said, and would be more equipped to relate to what life is like in a local clinic.
The U.S. attorney’s office did not return calls.
“The hospital and the clinic should be held accountable in this case,” Genis said. “The clinic should not have the option of hiding behind the federal government.”
The part of the case against Bronx-Lebanon itself will remain in Bronx Supreme Court.
Lawyers for the Aaronson Rappaport law firm, which represents Bronx-Lebanon, did not return calls.
On April 6, 2005, Teron went to the King center - a part of Bronx-Lebanon - complaining of a toothache. He returned for a root canal April 15, but was turned away because he was not accompanied by an adult.
He was admitted to Bronx-Lebanon later April 15 after he complained of headaches. Three days later, after losing consciousness, he was transferred to Montefiore Medical Center, where doctors determined he was brain-dead. They issued a death certificate April 21.
Montefiore doctors tried to persuade Mercerlyn Francis to remove her son from life support and threatened to disconnect him within 24 hours.
Bronx Supreme Court Justice Douglas McKeon stepped in and barred the hospital from pulling the plug, but the family finally accepted the fact and said their farewells.
The city medical examiner said Teron died of complications of meningoencephalitis - a swelling of the brain from a bacterial infection that started in his nasal cavity.
“Her son’s death didn’t have to happen and should have been avoided,” said Genis. “An X-ray would have shown the abscess, but it went untreated and got worse.”
SOURCE: nydailynews.com
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
Email This Post