Couple sues over use of pepper spray on man

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By Kurt Allemeier | Monday, February 19, 2007 11:49 PM CST | () comments

A couple is suing Genesis Health Systems for using pepper spray on the husband after he became disoriented and agitated while being treated for pancreatitis.

In the lawsuit filed in Scott County District Court, Thomas C. Walters and Patricia Walters of Bettendorf claim negligent professional care, negligent non-medical and administrative care, medical battery, battery and loss of spousal consortium stemming from the March 20, 2006, incident.

Walters was being treated for pancreatitis, an inflammation of the pancreas that can cause severe pain. During treatment that included the use of patient-controlled pain medication, he became disoriented and pulled out his intravenous line, according to the lawsuit. The doctor treating Walters ordered that someone stay with the patient and to end the patient’s control of the pain medication, the lawsuit states.

Several hours later, hospital staff began to give Walters a new bag of medication that was to be patient-controlled, according to the lawsuit.

About 18 hours after the first incident, Walters again became confused and agitated, the lawsuit states. During that episode, Genesis staff used pepper spray on Walters, according to the suit. The pepper spray caused near-respiratory arrest, bleeding, multiple seizures, heart problems, increased inflammation, bruising and worsening of the pancreatitis, the lawsuit states.

“Mr. Walters was threatening our staff, and they didn’t feel safe at the time,” Genesis spokesman Craig Cooper said of the incident.

Ralph W. Heninger, an attorney representing the couple, declined comment.

The lawsuit alleges that Genesis failed to provide someone to stay with Walters, did not stop the self-administered pain medication, failed to give Walters medication to prevent an agitation episode, failed to provide a safe hospital environment, did not properly remove the pepper spray from Walters after it had been used on him and that it used excessive force to restrain the patient.

Kurt Allemeier can be contacted at (563) 383-2360 or kallemeier@qctimes.com.