One year after reaching a $500,000 settlement in a lawsuit for the wrongful death of Carole Christiansen, who died in November 2014 after a “botched” colonoscopy, Crawford County Memorial Hospital (CCMH) in Denison has now been named in three more similar lawsuits. Two of these lawsuits were filed this month, including on for the June 2016 death of a newborn, Emery Lavender. The wrongful death suit alleges that a doctor did not take appropriate action when a growth was detected in the baby’s bowel during prenatal screening. Lavender underwent surgery after birth, but was only two days old when she died. The second suit filed this month is for the October 2016 death of 50-year-old Ida Grove businessman, Jeffery Bottjen, who died during a surgical procedure to remove a piece of food lodged in his throat. A nurse anesthetist at the facility says he had urged the physician to avoid sedation, claiming it was a safety issue as the patient weighed in excess of 330 pounds. Bottjen stopped breathing and died on the operating room table. The family of 19-year-old Taylor Teut, who died of a self-inflicted prescription drug overdose in November of 2014, are also suing. They allege that Tuet was sent home after initial treatment for attempting to harm herself with lorazepam and Advil. She was later found unresponsive and rushed back to CCMH, then on to a facility in Omaha, Neb., where she later died from complications.
