A'Darrin Washington was just 30-years-old when his mother, Deborah Washington, found his dead body in the back of a taxi cab. She is now filing a lawsuit against a North Carolina hospital's security services for discharging her dying or already dead son for allegedly for being "uncooperative" and refusing "to talk or move," Courthouse News reports.
The incident took place on Nov. 22, 2011 during A'Darrin's discharge from non-party Cumberland County Hospital. A'Darrin suffered from recurrent pneumonia associated with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and according to the suit, had been a patient at the hospital for 10 years.
Deborah claims that her son was admitted to the hospital on Nov. 14 and was initially misdiagnosed as "suffering from bacterial pneumonia," though several days later, his test results showed that he had fungal pneumonia and he had been receiving the wrong medication. Over the next few days, A'Darrin's condition deteriorated, staff noting that he was "weak, unable to walk and in pain."
On Nov. 21, after receiving the first dose of the correct medication, Deborah claims that the hospital declared A'Darrin stable and ready for discharge, though according to her, he was still weak and not ready to leave. Nonetheless, on Nov. 22, AlliedBarton Security allegedly transported A'Darrin to the lobby and wheeled him into a taxi cab to send him home after a "nurse called for security to escort Mr. Washington from his hospital bed to the lobby for discharge because Mr. Washington was allegedly 'uncooperative' and 'refusing to talk or move,'" as the complaint states.
"Upon information and belief, prior to his discharge, Mr. Washington was extremely weak and ill and in pain and had sought not to be discharged before he became unresponsive," the complaint reads. "When Mr. Washington became unresponsive he was unable to talk or move. Mr. Washington was unresponsive due to the fact that he was dying."
Deborah Washington claims that at least two members of the hospital staff expressed concern over her son, and the taxi driver was worried that he was already dead by the time he was placed and buckled into the cab by security, even crossing his legs for him. During the 45-minute trip home, A'Darrin was allegedly "unconscious," and when he arrived at his house, his family found him "unresponsive and cold to the touch," as the lawsuit states.
Deborah says she experienced "severe distress" while her son's dead body was left in the taxi cab for four hours while police investigated. She is currently "seeking compensatory and punitive damages for negligence, wrongful death and negligent infliction of emotional distress" in Cumberland County Superior Court, according to Courthouse News.
Click here to see photos of A'Darrin Washington and his mother, Deborah Washington, who is suing AlliedBarton Security Services.
