Family sues Ohio hospital over swine-flu death

COLUMBUS (AP) — Hospital doctors failed to properly treat a pregnant woman who had swine flu, sending her home where the illness worsened and she later developed complications that led to her death, a lawsuit alleges.

Kelsey Young, 20, delivered a baby girl before her Sept. 3 death. She was the first person in Franklin County, which includes Columbus, to die in the swine-flu outbreak.

The family believes Young died because doctors at nearby Dublin Methodist Hospital failed to follow proper protocols for the flu.

“It’s a real sad case,” said T. Jeffrey Beausay, an attorney for the family. “The Centers for Disease Control guideline for anyone with these symptoms is to treat the patient with Tamiflu. They did not and sent her home after three hours.”

Young’s symptoms became worse and she went to a different hospital, where she died. The woman’s baby is being cared for by relatives.