Groton Injury Lawyer
Groton Man’s Estate Settled For Nearly $1M
The estate of a severely schizophrenic man recently reached a nearly $1 million settlement with the hospitals who were in charge of his care.
Groton attorneys Peter Bartinik and Mark Grater say that 42-year-old Daniel Dunlap of Groton would still be alive if not for the negligence of Cedarcrest Regional Hospital in Newington and Hartford Hospital.
In June 1999, Dunlap was in front of the Pregnancy Support Center in Groton acting delusional and believing that he was pregnant. He was suffering from a severe schizophrenic episode. Groton police arrested Dunlap because he was in possession of a knife.
He was taken to Lawrence & Memorial Hospital, then transferred to Natchaug Hospital in Mansfield Center where he was then placed at Cedarcrest Regional Hospital.
Dunlap, not unlike many schizophrenics, refused to take his medication and threatened to escape from Cedarcrest, the attorneys said.
Dunlap on Sept. 27, 1999, jumped out of a second-story window, breaking his right ankle and left heel. He was transferred to Hartford Hospital for treatment of his injuries. While he was in the hospital’s care, he was administered Haldol and other medications to treat his schizophrenia. Some of the known side effects of Haldol include disruption in heart rhythms.
Dunlap’s attorneys claim that he was not properly monitored for such a disruption and suffered from a cardiac dysrhythmia, which deprived the flow of oxygen to his brain. Dunlap slipped into a coma and died 2 ½ years later. He never woke up from his coma.
Dunlap’s attorneys claim that Cedarcrest was negligent because the hospital failed to take steps to have a conservator appointed to force Dunlap to take his medications. Hartford Hospital was negligent because it failed to monitor Dunlap’s heart after administering Haldol, the attorneys said.
Both hospitals denied any wrongdoing.
The parties eventually reached a settlement in May after a five-week trial before the Complex Litigation Docket in Rockville Superior Court, Hartford Hospital agreed to pay $600,000 while the state department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, which runs Cedarcrest, agreed to pay $350,000.
Bartinik said that Dunlap’s estate, which is run by his mother, Mary, was pleased that the case was finally over, Dunlap did not have any children.
“He was in the right place for his illness but unfortunately there were a series of errors that occurred,” said Bartinik. Grater agreed. “Even though he was incapable of working…he did have a quality of life,” he said.
The Bartinik Law Firm, P.C.
100 Fort Hill Road
Groton, Connecticut 06340
email: pjb@grotonlaw.com
860 445 8521
860 445 5873 fax
