Government settles suit over wrongful death at VA's Haley

By Thomas Lake, Times Staff Writer
In print: Tuesday, April 8, 2008

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TAMPA — Pancreatitis did not kill Hugh Morris. Nor did nausea, vomiting or the bacterial infection that put him in the hospital. What killed Morris was too much medicine: a dose 60 times larger than what the doctor prescribed.

This fact is undisputed. Dr. Edward Cutolo Jr., then the acting chief of staff at James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital, admitted as much in a letter dated July 6, 2006, about two months after Morris died.

"Although Mr. Morris was gravely ill," he wrote, "we feel the incorrect dosage was responsible for his death."

The federal government filed court documents Friday stating it had settled a wrongful-death suit with Morris' widow, Elizabeth. Neither side would say how much money changed hands.

"I will say it was not a lot of money," Elizabeth Morris said Monday in her living room, as the smell of baked steak with brown gravy floated in from the kitchen. This was one of her husband's favorite dinners. They were married 62 years.

Mr. Morris was 84 when he died. He was a Navy electrician, a jeweler and a deacon in the Baptist church. He rose at 6 to read the King James Bible. He grew blueberries and walked several miles a day. His health was good until 2004, when he had gallbladder surgery at the Tampa VA hospital. According to a claim filed by his wife, he developed abscesses and chronic pancreatitis because of the surgery, and had several stents inserted and replaced.

On May 17, 2006, he went to the same hospital's emergency room because of an apparent infection related to his stent. A doctor prescribed the antibiotic Clindamycin — a 300-milligram dose.

Morris received 18 grams of Clindamycin. He died within minutes. His wife was not at his side. Neither was his son. They had left, at the suggestion of the medical staff, with instructions to return in the morning.

How the mistake happened was not entirely clear Monday. A representative for the VA hospital could not be reached. But David Banker, an attorney for Mrs. Morris, said he did not blame doctors or nurses for what happened. He said the error originated in the hospital's pharmacy and pertained to unclear packaging of drugs. He had been assured that the pharmacy had since changed its procedure to prevent such a thing from happening again.

Mrs. Morris is 84 now. She and her 62-year-old son, Hugh, sat in their living room Monday and talked about the man they had lost.

"He was strong as a bull, I'm telling you," Hugh said. "He could outwork you, me, and another guy."

"He always told me how to do things," Mrs. Morris said.

"He told everybody how to do things," Hugh said.

"He liked all vegetables," Mrs. Morris said.

The subject changed.

"They killed him," Hugh said.

"Don't say it like that," Mrs. Morris said.

"Plain and simple," Hugh said.

"I think this was a mistake that could have been avoided," Mrs. Morris said.

"Oh, yeah," Hugh said. "It was a mistake. A boneheaded mistake." He walked out of the room.

Mrs. Morris used to serve her husband dinner every day at 5 at the old round table. He sat in the same chair every day for decades, on the east side.

The kitchen table is nearly 100 years old and covered with a white cloth. Mrs. Morris and her son ate baked steak with brown gravy for dinner there on Monday. She sat on the west end and he sat to her left. No one sat in the third chair. No one had for a long time.

Times researcher Carolyn Edds contributed to this report. Thomas Lake can be reached at tlake@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3416.