SAN
ANTONIO, Texas
– The wife of a deceased military man is
attempting to file a wrongful death/medical malpractice lawsuit against the health
practitioners who made a fatal error after a surgical procedure, leading to his
death.
Alexis Witt is in the midst of a large
lawsuit over the wrongful death of her late husband, Dean Witt. Dean was working as staff sergeant at Travis
Air Force Base when he was reported to have experienced severe stomach pains.
Dean went to David Grant USAF Medical Center for further examination and then
called Alexis to let her know what was happening.
A shocked Alexis recounts the awkward
phone call from her husband. “He gave me a call and said, I’m at the hospital.
They found out what’s wrong. It’s appendicitis. I’m going into surgery. I’ll
give you a call when I get out.”
Shortly after the surgery, Alexis was
contacted by hospital staff who told her that everything went well and that
Dean was in recovery. However, about 12 hours after the initial phone call,
Alexis was contacted once again. This time, by a secretary from the hospital
asking her to fax papers over to the hospital so as to have Dean medically
retired from the Air Force.
At this point, Alexis was told that it
was unlikely that Dean would make it through the night. The secretary informed
her that after the surgery was completed, Dean was in the process of being
taken to recovery when he stopped breathing. Medical professionals attempted to
revive him but he did not respond.
At this point, a nurse anesthetist was
reported to have attempted to intubate Dean but inserted the tube into his
esophagus by mistake. This caused oxygen to be pumped into his stomach instead
of his lungs and left him without air for almost ten minutes and with brain
damage.
Alexis decided to remove him from life
support at this point.
Under a law known as the Feres
Doctrine, the hospital
where Dean was treated is protected by the Supreme Court, leaving medical
practitioners to be unaccountable for their actions.
Outraged, Alexis contested the
Doctrine and petitioned the 9th Circuit Federal Court in San
Francisco but her case was denied because the Doctrine is upheld under Supreme
Court law.
Along with her accident attorney, Alex is going to attempt to repetition the
court. If this fails once again, she is going to petition the Supreme Court.
Even with a top accident attorney representing her, the battle over the lawsuit is
going to be a tough one for Alexis. Word on whether her second petition was
accepted has yet to be announced.
