Negligence suit filed over death at Des Moines VA hospital

http://www.omaha.com/news/iowa/negligence-suit-filed-over-death-at-des-moines-va-hospital/article_fc423d58-c804-11e4-b8cf-f78719092cba.html

POSTED: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2015 10:41 AM | UPDATED: 10:42 AM, WED MAR 11, 2015.

DES MOINES (AP) — The family of a Pomeroy man who died at a Des Moines veterans hospital after his blood-oxygen levels dropped has filed a negligence lawsuit against the federal government and an ex-nurse.

The Des Moines Register reports the lawsuit was filed Monday on behalf of 65-year-old Michael Deal's family. Deal died at the Department of Veterans Affairs' Iowa Healthcare System one day after he was admitted for treatment of a diabetes-induced foot infection.

The lawsuit asks for monetary damages, including payment for the expenses of Deal's funeral and burial.

The newspaper reports that former nurse Bernard Nesbit agreed to surrender his license after admitting to turning off equipment that would have alerted other staffers to low oxygen levels in Deal's blood. Nesbitt said at a hearing for unemployment benefits that he turned off the alarms because they would go off even when patients did not need help.

FULL story at link.