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http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/01/26/5515338/a-quiet-end-to-a-very-public-tragedy.htmlA quiet end to a very public tragedy
Posted Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014
By Tim Madigan
FORT WORTH A nationally publicized ordeal that began two months ago when Erick Muñoz found his pregnant wife on the floor of their suburban home ended quietly Sunday at John Peter Smith Hospital...
Later Sunday afternoon, Erick Muñoz returned from the hospital to his Haltom City home to find his living room flooded by a ruptured water heater. As the sun set, he and friends were trying to clean up with mops.
I got here and found this just a couple of hours ago, Muñoz said. I couldnt make this stuff up if I tried.
Im sorry, he said. Im not giving any statements today. Ive got to clean up.
LisaLynne
(14,554 posts)elleng
(131,107 posts)niyad
(113,552 posts)Warpy
(111,339 posts)but the banality of a burst water heater is probably just the thing he needs right now, he'll have to do a lot of physical work to clean up the mess and assess the damage, work that will work off more emotion than people who haven't been through similar things will ever know.
But yes, he should never have been put through any of this once he found his wife collapsed. Her fetus never really had a chance, it was anoxic along with its mother.
I hope he sues the hospital for civil damages from assault, because that's pretty much what they did once his wife had been declared dead.
kcr
(15,320 posts)and I wonder if the fact those who wrote the law said they didn't mean for it to be interpret it the way the hospital did could work in hi favor. I hope so.
TexasTowelie
(112,420 posts)JPS is a public hospital financed by the taxpayers of Tarrant County and provides care for the indigent and uninsured. They have a duty to protect the taxpayer's interests and they could have found themselves involved with a lawsuit from the Tarrant County DA if they had simply pulled the plug without a court order. In addition, the physician that ordered the removal of life support would be open to criminal charges.
It would a wise move on the part of the hospital to waive any expenses not covered by their private insurance and I believe that they should pay for Munoz's legal expenses since he was compelled to hire an attorney to have the life support removed. I'm also not opposed to a reasonable settlement for mental anguish; however, an outrageous settlement that results in a windfall to Munoz and his attorney doesn't offset the loss of a spouse and is not in the public interest.
There are other issues that will come into play since tort reform laws limit the amount of liability for public hospitals. In addition, mental anguish is considered a non-economic loss and those damages will also be limited. However, the actions of JPS are not consistent with the legal definition of assault.
I doubt that a lawsuit would be successful since a party can't sue for damages to compel another party to commit an illegal action.
Warpy
(111,339 posts)he's going to have to sue. Remember, this happened before the ACA kicked in.
Triana
(22,666 posts)PDJane
(10,103 posts)Yeah, hard work may take his mind off of some of his problems, but a nice warm and dry house would likely have been better for his state of mind.
ScreamingMeemie
(68,918 posts)Chellee
(2,102 posts)Was it simply carpets and drywall, or was it pictures of his deceased wife, mementos from their life together?
This poor man.
Cleita
(75,480 posts)Happened to me where I had four really bad things happen to me in a matter of months. They involved fires, loss, deaths and betrayal. It almost put me at the end of my rope in the "what's next?" category. But funny enough, after that my bad luck stopped for a long while.
I hope this guy gets through these life sucking disasters until he can get to smooth sailing again.
ReRe
(10,597 posts)... four bad things happening in a matter of months, Cleita. Betrayal x 2, Shingles and death.
Auntie Bush
(17,528 posts)I even had a inoculation...didn't seem to help.
ReRe
(10,597 posts)deutsey
(20,166 posts)It wasn't bad enough that the world economy was imploding at the time, but my wife got pneumonia, both of our vehicles unexpectedly broke down on the same day, we really got gouged in having one of them repaired, and my son came home from school with lice.
That all happened during the span of two or three weeks.
OldRedneck
(1,397 posts)Does he have a PayPal account?
I'm on a fixed income and live pension check to pension check but I could send him $10. If a lot of us sent him $10 . . . .
ErikJ
(6,335 posts)I wouldnt doubt it.
Ken Burch
(50,254 posts)Those assholes could easily flip that around to make it sound like they're being "persecuted" by us. You just know they already have it strategized.
TexasTowelie
(112,420 posts)Considering that it was in the 60s earlier in the week, more than likely he went to the court in Austin earlier in the week and hadn't checked the weather forecast.