The family of late Texas congressman Eddie Bernice Johnson is currently working with Dallas-based health care providers and rehabilitators after they say she died after contracting an infection while lying in her own stool after back surgery. I plan to file a medical negligence lawsuit against the facility.
Johnson, a registered nurse and the first elected member of Congress, died on December 31 at her home in Dallas at the age of 89. Her family's attorney and longtime friend of Johnson, Les Weisbrod, said at a news conference Thursday that her death certificate listed the Democrat's cause of death as osteomyelitis of the lumbar spine.
“If she had received proper care at that facility, she would be here today,” Johnson's son Kirk said when speaking about the alleged incident at Baylor Scott & White Rehabilitation Institute. he said.
According to a press release from Weisbrod's office, her son found her lying in her own feces and urine at a rehab facility on September 21st. Kirk Johnson said at a news conference Thursday that he went to the facility after his mother called him and there was no answer. He arrived about 10 minutes later.
Longtime Texas Democratic Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson dies
Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) introduces state Sen. Royce West at a rally where West announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate on Monday, July 22, 2019, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
“It's unfortunate,” he said. “She wasn't being cared for. She was crying out for her pain and for help.”
Kirk Johnson couldn't find a nurse on his floor, so he went to the administrative office and the CEO escorted him to his mother's room, according to a press release. When we arrived, staff were cleaning up the feces.
Weisbrod's office said Eddie Bernice Johnson's orthopedic surgeon wrote in records that Johnson began receiving “a large amount of purulent drainage from the lower lumbar incision” three days after the incident, according to the Associated Press. Reported.
Surgeons performed surgical repairs on the infected wound before Johnson was transferred to a nursing home on Oct. 18 and then to her home where she is receiving hospice care in mid-December, the Associated Press cited a press release. He added that he is reported to have done so.
The news release also said a laboratory wound culture report showed microorganisms directly related to the feces, according to the Associated Press.
Weisbrod reportedly notified Baylor Scott & White Health System and Baylor Scott & White Rehabilitation Institute that Johnson's family was preparing to file a medical negligence lawsuit.
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Congressman Eddie Bernice Johnson speaks at the U.S. Capitol in Washington in February 2022. (Samuel Corum/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Eddie Bernice Johnson was one of the Dallas area's most prominent Democrats.
She was the first registered nurse elected to Congress and the first black head psychiatric nurse at a veterans hospital in Dallas, before serving in the U.S. House of Representatives for 30 years.
Johnson went on to become the first black woman to chair the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee and also led the Congressional Black Caucus. She stepped down in January 2023 after repeatedly postponing her retirement. Prior to Congress, she served as a member of the Texas State Assembly.
U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson attends an early voting rally for Joe Biden at a Texas primary polling place on Saturday, February 22, 2020 in Dallas. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images)
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President Biden said Johnson was a “dedicated nurse, state legislator, and longtime U.S. lawmaker of immense courage and dedication to the promise of America.”
FOX News' Bradford Betts and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
