DENVER—An investigation by state regulators concluded that Denver Health Medical Center didn’t properly examine a drunken-driving suspect who died after lying in jail for hours with untreated organ damage.
The finding surfaced this week as part of a lawsuit filed by the family of Emily Rae Rice, 24. She died in February at Denver Health after she was arrested on DUI charges.
The investigation by a division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said Rice was taken to Denver Health complaining of shoulder and abdominal pain. But the investigation said the hospital took no X-rays before discharging her, when she was taken to the Denver jail.
Other inmates said she cried in pain and begged for help but wasn’t returned to the hospital for about 24 hours. An autopsy found she had a ruptured spleen and a lacerated liver.
Her family filed suit in Denver District Court in January, naming the city-owned hospital, the city, law-enforcement officers, jail guards, doctors and nurses as defendants.
City officials have declined to comment on the suit, although the mayor’s office and the hospital have expressed sympathy for the family.
Denver Health spokesman Tony Encinias said Wednesday he could not comment on the investigation’s findings.
The findings are kept on record with the state, which considers a hospital’s history before reissuing a license, according to the health department’s Web site.
The family’s lawsuit alleges that Denver Health staff found only that Rice had a shoulder bruise and gave her Ibuprofin.
Hours before her death, Rice had called her mother and complained she was freezing and couldn’t feel her feet, the suit says. She asked for another blanket but wasn’t given one, according to the suit.
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Information from: Rocky Mountain News,
