Phoenix Arizona Wrongful Death Attorney
News Articles about Patton Lawfirm Cases

Loss of son devastates couple

Tri-City hit with $1.5 million claim over 2-year-old’s death

By Mark Larabee – Staff Writer

OCEANSIDE - Roger Nelan says it’s hard to come home.

The statement may have double meaning for the Navy man, who came home form the deployment in the Persian Gulf at the end of October to learn that his 2-year-old son Andrew, had died following an operation at Tri-City Medical Center to remove his tonsils and adenoids.

Now, Nelan said, "its hard to be at home knowing his son isn’t there."

“The house is just so quiet,” Nelan said Friday during an interview, his wife Becky Nelan, at his side, fighting back tears. “Its hard to go to our bedroom because his is on the way. We just can’t get him off our mind. It’s unbelievable. It really is.”

The Oceanside couple filed a medical malpractice claim Dec. 7 for $1.51 million with Tri-City Hospital District, saying the hospital was negligent in caring for Andrew after his surgery.

More specifically, their attorney said Friday the boy was administered 12 milligrams of morphine during the six hours after the surgery. He said the opium-based painkiller was responsible for Andrew going into respiratory arrest, eventually starving his body of oxygen enough to cause severe brain damage.

"The county medical examiner is investigating the death," a spokesman said. It has been classified as accidental, though a cause of death is pending as officials are waiting for the results of toxicology tests, which are expected this week.

According to Becky Nelan, her son was checked into Tri-City Medical Center for a routine tonsillectomy Oct. 27. "He never recovered from the operation," she said.