http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/sun/1999/apr/13/508657126.html
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Hospital sued over man’s death
By Bill Gang
LAS VEGAS SUN
A Las Vegas hospital has been sued by the son of a man who died after a feeding tube was put into his lung instead of his stomach.
The lawsuit filed by Emmett Smith Jr. Monday alleges Vencor Hospital, Dr. Steven Lissau and hospital employee Pat Cain negligently caused his father’s death Jan. 27, 1998, and then falsified the death certificate to cover up the incident.
Lissau said Tuesday morning he had no comment right now.
He seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages in the lawsuit filed through attorneys Marty Keach and Robert Murdock.
Emmett Smith Sr. was in Vencor, 5100 W. Sahara Ave., for treatment of what the lawsuit said were “various illnesses.”
But he was unable to eat food, and a feeding tube had to be inserted into his stomach for nutrition, hydration and medication, the lawsuit stated.
However, the tube was alleged to have been inserted by Cain into the patient’s lung instead, and no X-ray was taken to ensure it was in its proper location.
The lawsuit also states that when the patient was found without a heartbeat, no CPR was attempted and the Clark County coroner’s office was never notified of the circumstances leading to the death.
Lissau “executed a death certificate which falsely stated the cause of death” and didn’t mention the faulty tube placement, the lawsuit alleges.