The family of a man who died in the hallways of a Central Valley hospital’s emergency department has filed a wrongful death lawsuit, arguing the staff “carelessly” failed to triage their dad in a timely manner as he experienced heart failure.
On Oct. 1, 2023, Erick Burger, 60, called 911 and reported chest pain and shortness of breath. Within minutes of arriving at Kaweah Health Medical Center’s emergency department, he started seizing and went into cardiac arrest, according to a state investigation report. He was pronounced dead about half an hour later.
The state investigation, a former staff member, a lawsuit and paramedic report allege two emergency department nurses, unnamed in the lawsuit, “were just sitting around and showed no urgency” when Burger was brought into the hospital. Paramedics radioed ahead to the emergency room staff they were arriving in 10 minutes and Burger would need to be seen immediately.
A former emergency department staff member is speaking out publicly about Burger’s death, saying he is the one who filed a complaint with the state over the incident, saying it was his “ethical and moral obligation.”
Nathaniel Leeds, the lawyer representing Burger’s family in the lawsuit, said in a statement: “Our emergency rooms are one of the few places in our society where everyone should expect dignity, and to be treated equally, regardless of their background; it is heartbreaking when hospital staff does not appreciate the importance of their own mission,”
The two emergency department nurses who are accused of failing to respond to the request in a timely manner could have their licenses revoked, according to state records.
In a statement to The Bee, Kaweah Health said that as as a matter of policy and out of respect for patients and their families, it does not publicly discuss pending or settled litigation. Due to federal patient privacy laws (HIPAA), the hospital said it is not able to comment specifically about a patient’s care at Kaweah Health.
“The two registered nurses referenced in this matter were promptly placed on administrative leave and are no longer employed with Kaweah Health,” the statement said. They were also reported to the California Board of Registered Nursing, the statement said.
What happened to Kaweah Health patient?
On Oct. 1, 2023, the Exeter District Ambulance picked up Burger at his home in Visalia. When paramedics arrived, they found Burger struggling to breath and barely able to make two- to three- word sentences, according to a paramedic report.
As paramedics pulled into the ambulance bay, Burger’s condition worsened. He told paramedics that he felt his automatic implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, a medical device that uses electric charge to restore a normal heartbeat, “started to fire and shock him.”
As paramedics rushed him into the emergency department around 5:07 p.m,, two nurses, a registered nurse and a mobile intensive care nurse, “were just sitting down showing no urgency,” according to a state investigation’s review of the ambulance report.
When a paramedic asked which room the patient should be taken to, the two nurses appeared focused on a private conversation, and “they both giggled and delayed patient care and told me I have to register the patient first,” according to a reference to a patient care record in the state’s investigation.
According to the state investigation., the paramedic told the nurses that the patient’s internal defibrillator fired off. “Well you did not say that in your report,” the MICN nurse said, according to the state investigation.
So the paramedic ceded to the nurses instructions and registered the patient, which took about three to five minutes, according to the state investigation. Then a second paramedic told the nurses that the patient was starting to seize, yet the two nurses “still did not show any urgency,” according to a reference to a patient care record in the state’s investigation.
Burger was pronounced deceased at 5:47 p.m.
Leeds, the attorney for the plaintiffs, said that in his opinion, indifferent nursing stems from hospital management trying to do too much with too few nurses. Additionally, there has been an increase of nursing burn-out leading to malpractice since the coronavirus pandemic, he said. An analysis from leading malpractice insurance providers found that nurse practitioner claims had increased 10.5% in 2022 compared to 2017.
“What happened to Mr. Burger is part of a larger problem: not enough money for community hospitals, insufficient educational resources to train nurses, and a profits-at-all costs approach to hospital management,” he said.
Kevin Barnes used to work as a unit secretary in Kaweah Health’s emergency department. When he arrived for his 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. evening shift on Oct. 1, 2023, he said he knew something was off.
“The energy in the hospital was different,” he said in an interview. “No one was saying much.”
Part of Barnes’ duties involved filing paramedic reports in patient’s files. When he read the report about Burger’s death, he said it was “the worst thing I have ever read.”
Barnes said he felt a responsibility to do something because, otherwise, no one else was going to see the report.
He prayed about what to do with the information, he said.
“God told me as long as I do the right thing, it would be okay in the end,” he said.
Barnes issued a complaint with the state following the incident. The California Department of Public Health investigated Burger’s death on Nov. 11, 2023, and found two deficiencies related to nursing services policies and procedures and with planning and implementing patient care.
Barnes also decided to share what he knew about Burger’s death with Burger’s kids, whom he’s known all his life. He said he believes the hospital “lied” to the family.
“If it was my parents I’d want to know the truth,” he said. “I knew it would cost me my job.”
He was later fired in January 2024, and he believes it was retaliation for sharing information and complaining to the state. Officially, he was told, he was let go for a HIPAA violation.
Kaweah Health said that no employee’s employment status was changed due to a whistleblowing claim.
In April, the executive officer of the Board on Registered Nursing filed two accusations against nurses Shelby Leann Corwin and Jessica Suzanne Casaus, alleging gross negligence, incompetence and unprofessional conduct over their handling of Burger’s arrival to the emergency department.
Attempts to reach the nurses were unsuccessful.
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