Nurse Arrested in Death of Comatose Man

A former Oxnard nurse charged with contributing to the death of a comatose Fillmore surfer has been arrested and will return to Ventura County to face charges.

Sandra Monterroso was arrested Friday in the parking lot of a drugstore in Las Vegas. On Tuesday, she waived her right to protest extradition.

Monterroso, 49, is charged with felony counts of involuntary manslaughter and dependent adult abuse in the death of Jeremiah Allen, 20, a Fillmore High School graduate who had been left comatose by a surfing accident in October 2003.

Allen had been attending the University of Hawaii, and the accident occurred in Hilo, on the island of Hawaii. Three months later, his parents transferred him to a CareMeridian living facility in Oxnard that specializes in patients with brain and spinal cord injuries.

The state Health and Human Services Agency fined the facility $25,000 in connection with Allen’s death on June 2, 2004. The agency determined that he died, in part, because Monterroso ignored a doctor’s orders not to touch his feeding tube and instead attempted to reinsert it when it came loose.

An agency report said the fresh tube she used was too large and was placed in Allen’s abdominal cavity rather than in his stomach.

Allen died 12 hours later of peritonitis -- inflammation of the membrane lining the abdomen.

Last month, a judge declared Monterroso a fugitive from justice when she did not show up for her arraignment at Ventura County Superior Court. He issued a warrant for her arrest and set her bail at $50,000.

Jamison “Jim” Ashby, chief executive and co-owner of CareMeridian, said it was misleading to refer to Monterroso as a fugitive, because the licensed vocational nurse did not seem to have known of her indictment.

“Our understanding is that she had no awareness that she had been charged. She was on vacation in Arizona with her sister,” Ashby said. “As soon as she found out, she offered to turn herself in, but she wasn’t given a choice. They went ahead and arrested her.”

Steven B. Powell, Monterroso’s lawyer, did not return phone calls seeking comment.

California Deputy Atty. Gen. Natasha Fagan said she would ask Ventura County Superior Court Judge Bruce Clark to rescind Monterroso’s bail and keep her in custody until trial.

Also charged in Allen’s death is Chad Medlin, 61, of Ventura, a registered nurse who at the time of the incident was the chief administrator and director of nursing at the Oxnard facility in the 1500 block of Teal Club Road. Medlin is charged with one felony count of dependent adult abuse. Last month, his attorney requested a continuance until Aug. 18 to give him more time to review the facts before Medlin enters a plea.

Ashby has defended his company’s record of patient care. Over the last 12 years, he said, the treatment of just two out of about 100 patients has resulted in lawsuits.

Neither Monterroso nor Medlin is currently employed by CareMeridian.