Priest sues over care at Manatee Memorial

Priest sues over care at Manatee Memorial
He claims the hospital believed he was trying to get powerful pain medication
By Frank Gluck


Published: Thursday, July 31, 2008 at 2:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, July 31, 2008 at 1:25 a.m.
BRADENTON - Emergency room physicians must tread carefully when patients come in seeking pain medication. All too often, those patients are addicts simply looking for a narcotic fix.

But that caution may have led staffers at Manatee Memorial Hospital last year to miss the serious injuries of a Catholic priest who had just fallen more than eight feet from a ladder at his home.

Now that priest, the Rev. Charles Jackson, 57, is suing. He claims the hospital erroneously believed he was trying to get powerful pain medication while overlooking multiple bone fractures that ultimately left him permanently incontinent and barely able to walk.

The hospital's chief executive, who said Jackson's behavior was suspect that day, said the emergency room physician made a mistake.

Jackson's Bradenton attorney, Richard Shapiro, called the episode "a crime against humanity."

"I don't care whether he was a priest or a bum from the streets, he had a right to a decent, reasonable amount of medical care," Shapiro said. "They have ruined his life."
click post title for more