Hospital to Pay $900,000 in Wrongful-Death Case

UCI Medical Center in Orange agreed Friday to pay $900,000 to the family of a Santa Ana man who died in the hospital two years ago, the attorney for the family said.

The settlement ends a wrongful-death suit brought by the family of Jose Cervantes, a 44-year-old hotel busboy who died after entering the emergency room in October 1994. According to the complaint filed by the family, Cervantes complained of stomach pains. They said he was in fact suffering from a bowel obstruction, which went undiagnosed and untreated for nearly 24 hours. Cervantes died of cardiac arrest.

Carolyn Cater, a spokeswoman for UCI Medical Center, confirmed that the hospital had settled the case but declined to give any details.

Cervantes is survived by his wife and four children.

“Unfortunately, this is a blatant case of medical negligence,” said Lawrence Eisenberg, the attorney for the Cervantes family. “They basically put him in bed and did nothing.”