Medical Malpractice Suit Filed Against Hospital
Posted by
Christina ColeJanuary 25, 2007 3:15 AMTwo years after her Father killed her husband, Ann Meador is blaming West Florida Hospital for the tragedy.
In a medical malpractice suit filed in Escambia Circuit court, Meador is claiming her father, Leslie Johnson, walked out of the hospital wearing nothing more than a blanket prior to murdering her husband, Bill Meador, in the victim's downtown law office.
The lawsuit alleges West Florida failed to document the severity of her father's mental state. It says the hospital should have kept him in the hospital under the Baker Act, which allows involuntary hospitalization of people whom are a danger to themselves and others.
Ann Meador, a lawyer, was seven months pregnant with her first child when her father burst into the victim's Emmanuel, Sheppard & Condon law office on Jan. 24, 2005. Johnson fired two gunshots at Bill Meador's head. He then fled and, after ramming a police car, fatally shot himself.
The suit says Johnson was admitted to West Florida after appearing at the emergency room on Jan. 23 seeking treatment for physical and psychiatric symptoms. Michles said a doctor noted on Johnson's chart that he was suicidal. The attorney also said a nurse overheard Johnson saying that he wanted to kill "him" and "them.""Unfortunately, that was not conveyed to a treating physician," Michles said. A tearful Ann Meador said Wednesday her father and husband had a good relationship and she may never know why the shooting occurred.