Woman Kicked Out of Hospital Dies
By Bob Geimer
Fifty-seven-year-old Barbara Dawson had terrible pain in her abdomen and was taken by ambulance to Calhoun Liberty Hospital near Tallahassee, Florida Sunday night. Doctors decided there was nothing wrong and discharged her, but feeling something was wrong, Ms. Dawson did not leave. So the Hospital called police and she was arrested for disorderly conduct. But something was wrong – Ms. Dawson was suffering from a pulmonary embolism (PE), a blood clot in her lung - and collapsed while in handcuffs outside the hospital and died. The shame of it is that PE can be easily diagnosed with an imaging test. Had this been done, Ms. Dawson could have been treated and would be alive today. Instead, she was shackled and died a horrible death. This is inexcusable. Doctors are taught to listen to their patients, and when Ms. Dawson was telling them something wasn’t right, they should have listened.
This story was originally reported by the Tallahassee Democrat: http://www.tallahassee.com/