MIDDLEBOURNE – The estate of an autistic man blames Tyler County 911 as well as the local hospital and ambulance service for failing to properly respond to his medical needs and for his eventual death.
Tina McDonald, personal representative for the estate of Bryan James McDonald, filed the complaint November 15 in Tyler Circuit Court against the Tyler County Commission and Marietta Memorial Hospital of Tyler County. The commission is doing business as Tyler County E911, and the hospital operates as Sistersville General Hospital as well as Sistersville General Hospital Ambulance Service – EMS.
According to the complaint, Bryan McDonald was a highly functioning 29-year-old autistic man who had lived on his own for at least two years. Tina McDonald was his stepmother.
On July 6, 2020, Bryan McDonald contacted Tyler County E911 at 5:33 p.m. reporting he was feverish and nauseous. The dispatcher/operator asked no further questions.
The complaint says the dispatcher/operator contacted personnel with the EMS/ambulance service to discuss how to respond to the call, but they eventually decided not to send an ambulance.
“McDonald actually was suffering from hyperthermia,” the complaint states. “Less than three hours after the aforementioned call to Tyler County E911, Mr. McDonald collapsed in his front yard. This time, EMS services were dispatched to Mr. McDonald’s home and found him unresponsive with an axillary temperature of 104.5 degrees.”
He was transported to Sistersville General Hospital, where he soon died.
L. Dante diTrapano, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiff, declined comment for this story.
The estate accuses the defendants of professional negligence for deviating from the standards of care that led to Bryan McDonald’s death.
The estate seeks compensatory, general and special damages, including sorrow, mental anguish, loss of solace, companionship, comfort, guidance, loss of income and expenses related to his death as well as his pain and suffering before his death. It also seeks punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interests, attorney fees, court costs and other relief.
The estate is being represented by diTrapano and David Carriger of Calwell Luce diTrapano in Charleston as well as by Richard D. Lindsay II and Richard D. Lindsay, M.D., J.D. of Tabor Lindsay & Associates in Charleston.
The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge David Hummel.
Tyler Circuit Court case number 21-C-22