HOUSTON – Two men are suing a Houston hospital after recording video of ants and gnats that had crawled into their father's tracheotomy breathing tube, Local 2 Investigates reported on Wednesday.
The brothers provided their video recording to Local 2 Investigates after filing a malpractice lawsuit against Select Specialty Hospital-Houston West at 9430 Katy Freeway near Gessner.
"How my daddy was left in his last days, it wasn't good. It wasn't good," said Keith Simmons, a machinist from Houston.
His father, Willie Lee Simmons, died of lung disease after collapsing in his home last year. Another hospital treated him and then transferred the 61-year-old to Select Specialty Hospital for rehabilitation.
"If you're there to be rehabilitated, then, no, you shouldn't have gnats, ants, filthy toilets, paper on the floor, food from feeding tubes. No, you shouldn't have any of that," said Keith Simmons.
He and his brother used their cell phone to record conditions in his intensive care unit room because they said the room was filthy every time they visited and staff did not respond to their requests to clean it up.
The video zooms in for several close-up shots of numerous ants that had died inside the breathing tube. The footage also shows other dead ants on their father's pillow and bedding. At one point on the tape, the man's sons ask a medical worker how ants could possibly get inside of a breathing tube and the medical worker is heard replying, "I have no idea."
Keith Simmons told Local 2 Investigates that his father's ICU room had a sticky floor, which was littered with soiled bedding, bandage wrappers and even brown liquid from their father's feeding tube.
"It was on the floor, there were ants down there on the floor, there was paper down there, they look like from Band-Aids and gauze," he said.
The family said they hope a jury sees the video they recorded on their cell phone so that other patients can avoid similar treatment.
"It's a very hurtful feeling … overall, you just hurt," said Kirk Simmons, another son of the patient who said he tried to push hospital staff to clean up the messes.
"I'm like, my dad has ants and gnats inside of his tracheotomy tube, and she said, 'Well, we exterminated today. We've been having a lot of bad problems with ants,'" said Kirk Simmons, who also works as a machinist. "Every time we come, it's something different. And it has to do with just being so unclean. I mean, if you're going to be in ICU, you would think that, OK, this is probably the cleanest place in the hospital."
Both brothers said the ants could have made their father more uncomfortable or perhaps worsened his condition if they were actually able to crawl inside their father's throat.
Their attorney, Derek Deyon, said, "The very tube that gave him life was filled with ants and gnats. "I've never seen so much neglect by an actual hospital."
As the family questioned medical workers inside their father's hospital room, the workers repeatedly insisted that they stop recording video. One worker was heard saying that he felt like he was being interrogated.
Deyon said, "The fact that they didn't want to talk, they didn't want to be on camera, you know, like they say, if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to hide."
The Select Specialty Hospital's parent company, Select Medical of Mechanicsburg, Pa.,
issued a written statement in response to the lawsuit and descriptions of the family's videotape.
The entire statement reads:
"We have not been served with a lawsuit so we cannot specifically respond. However, the allegation of negligence is not true. And although we have no intention to try this case in the media, we can say, emphatically, that Select Specialty Hospital – Houston West keeps its rooms and equipment clean and sanitary.
"We also want your viewers to know that we take complaints extremely seriously and act immediately to correct them. That was done in this case. Select Specialty Hospital – Houston West has an impeccable record of health and safety. The patient in question had a terminal respiratory illness and a host of medically complex and severe conditions. We responded immediately and appropriately to the concerns of the patient's family. Patients' well-being is our top priority. We want to reiterate to our patients, their families and the public that we listen to -- and quickly address -- every concern that comes to us."
Court records show the family requested a settlement of $200,000 from the hospital before filing the malpractice lawsuit.
The family's lawsuit petition states that Simmons was found lying on the floor in his own feces and it alleged that the hospital "failed to maintain Mr. Simmons' room in a sanitary condition." It also alleges that the patient's conditions were not properly monitored and that proper medical care was not provided.
For Keith Simmons, he wonders if his father could have lived longer with better treatment.
"I think they took him a lot earlier. I think they took him a lot earlier, because my daddy was strong. He was a strong dude."