Warren hospital sued for missing fatal heart attack signs

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Relatives of a 32-year-old Warren man are blaming his 2016 heart attack death on Trumbull Regional Medical Center physicians, whom they say failed to properly treat him.

The estate of the deceased man, Brian Crawford of Warren, filed a wrongful death suit July 25 in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court against Trumbull Emergency Group PC Inc., Warren Ohio Hospital Company LLC and the two physicians who treated Crawford the day of his death: Drs. Sadi D. Dalieh of Monterey, Calif., and Frank A. Heinselman of Canfield, according to court filings.

The suit requests a jury trial. It was filed in Mahoning County because Dr. Heinselman is a county resident.

According to the complaint, Crawford went to the hospital emergency room in the early morning of July 31, 2016, “with complaints including severe sharp and sudden pain in the center of his chest.” The complaint alleges Crawford’s medical history indicated he was at “high risk” for coronary artery disease.

Cardiac testing performed on Crawford showed “abnormalities consistent with a cardiac event” which Drs. Dalieh and Heinselman failed to recognize, the complaint says.

Professionals allegedly discharged Crawford hours after he arrived at the ER, and he later died of a heart attack.

The complaint names Crawford’s parents and child as beneficiaries and cites damages including “prospective inheritance” and mental anguish, along with others. The complaint does not specify a relief amount sought, aside from what would be “adequate to compensate the survivors.”

Representatives from Trumbull Regional Medical Center could not be reached for comment this week.

A representative from Steward Health, the parent company of Warren Ohio Hospital Company, declined to comment. That representative claimed the case involves the hospital’s former operator, Community Health Systems of Tennessee, but CHS is not named in the suit.

A representative from CHS did not respond to requests for comment Friday.