The wife of a deceased military man has filed a wrongful death/medical malpractice lawsuit after a nurse made a fatal error following a surgical procedure.
Alexis Witt has filed a claim on behalf of her late husband, Dean Witt, for his wrongful death. 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 but was turned down for help three times within the span of only one week. It was only after collapsing in the base housing parking lot that he was rushed to the hospital.
Once there, Dean was revived in order to call his wife for what would be the final time.
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 a representative of the Air Force and told she would be receiving some paperwork via fax regarding the death benefits she was entitled to after retiring her husband. This was how she received the terrible news that Dean would not likely make it through the night.
The same representative briefly informed her of the events that occurred. She told Alexis 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.
Alexis then made the difficult decision to remove him from life support.
After Dean’s surgery, Rachael Fontanilla Delaporte, one of the nurses who was assisting him, had administered an overdose of the drug Fentanyl. Fentanyl is an extremely powerful pain medication, 100 times stronger than morphine.
After giving Dean the drug, Delaporte instructed two residents to take him to recovery. When en route, Dean experienced a laryngospasm (an involuntary contraction of the laryngeal chords, blocking air passages) and was taken to the pediatric wing where a children’s respirator was used to attempt to restore normal breathing. Since pediatric bags don’t have an oral tube, this was not enough to save Dean’s life.
Under a law known as the Feres Doctrine, the hospital (and all the medical workers that are employed there) where Dean was treated is protected by the Supreme Court, leaving medical practitioners to be unaccountable for their actions. The law protects all military medical personnel and doesn’t require them to have malpractice insurance.
Delaporte was also responsible for the death of 21-year-old Airman Christopher White due to the same overdose mistake one year prior to Dean’s death. The tragic truth is that if the law did not exist, Delaporte would have been held accountable for the death of Airman White and Dean would have never died due to the overdose mistake.
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 attorneys, Alexis has already filed for an appeal.
Even with top accident attorneys representing her, the battle over the lawsuit is going to be a tough one for Alexis and her family. Alexis’ sister, Carmen Voegeli notes that Alexis is not petitioning the court in order to receive any compensation for Dean’s death, only to have justice served and to ensure this type of error never happens again.
“This battle has cost her [Alexis] thousands of dollars to make sure this never happens again,” said Voegeli. “That is all she wants for her husband and their children. That is what this is all about.”
