Ex-Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson’s family plans lawsuit alleging negligent care led to death

The family of late Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) plans to sue over what they call negligent care that led to her death earlier this week.

Lawyers representing Johnson's family filed a lawsuit Thursday against Baylor Scott & White Health Care System and the Baylor Scott & White Rehabilitation Institute in Dallas, alleging the family's “medical malpractice caused the wrongful death” of Johnson. sent a letter notifying them of their intention to take action.

Johnson had entered a rehabilitation center for treatment after undergoing spinal surgery earlier that month, according to a press release from his lawyers. The defense contends that the alleged negligence caused Johnson to develop an infection that resulted in her death.

Johnson, who served in parliament for 30 years, died on December 31 at the age of 89.

According to a death certificate uploaded by the family's attorney, Johnson died of osteomyelitis in the lumbar spine. According to the Cleveland Clinic, osteomyelitis is a bone infection caused by bacteria or fungi.

Legal representatives for the family say the son of the late U.S. Rep. Kirk Johnson was visiting his mother at the Baylor Scott & White Rehabilitation Institute on Sept. 21 when his mother was “lying in her own feces and urine.” It is reported that they discovered that the press release.

Kirk Johnson said in a statement that he was “shocked by the careless disregard for my mother's care and health” at the rehabilitation center.

When Kirk Johnson visited his mother that day, the former lawmaker repeatedly pressed the call button for help, but no one answered, his lawyers said in a statement.

Kirk Johnson then located the rehabilitation center's CEO, David Smith, and brought him to the councilman's office, the statement said. When they arrived, nurses and staff were “cleaning up feces,” the release said.

“This shouldn't have happened,” Smith said at the time, according to the statement. Lawyers claim that medical records from the rehabilitation center had “no mention of what happened.”

Baylor Scott & White Health said in a statement that the congresswoman is “a longtime friend and advocate for the communities we serve, and she is an inspiration to all. ” he said. We are committed to working directly with the Congresswoman's family and her attorney. To respect patient privacy, comments must be limited. ”

Baylor Scott & White Institute for Rehabilitation is an affiliate or subsidiary of Select Medical Corporation. According to the website. Select Medical Corporation declined to comment on the notice sent.

“Out of respect for patient privacy, we have no comment at this time,” Select Medical said in a statement to The Hill.

Johnson was referred to a rehabilitation center by an orthopedic surgeon after back surgery in September, according to a release from the law firm representing the Johnson family.

The MP's orthopedic surgeon reported that “there were several post-operative incidents, including when the patient went for post-operative rehabilitation and on the fourth day the patient was found sitting on the bed with his own stool not cleaned up. There were complications,'' he reportedly said.

According to the statement, a surgeon said that three days after the incident, Johnson “began producing a large amount of purulent drainage from the incision in his lower lumbar spine.”

According to the statement, clinical tests detected “microorganisms directly related to feces” in the wound.

“According to the institute's report, the infection that killed former Rep. Johnson was caused by staff at the Baylor Scott & White Rehabilitation Institute failing to properly care for Mrs. There is no question that this was caused by lying down,” the family's attorney, Les Weisbrod, said in a press release.

Weisbrod said the late congressman asked him to pursue this case “in the weeks leading up to his death.”

“It is abhorrent that former Congressman Eddie Bernice Johnson, or any other patient, may have been abused and neglected by the nursing staff at Baylor Scott & White Rehabilitation Institute. We will fight for justice for the Johnson family as they move through the system,” Weisbrod said.