Family sues hospital after son is declared dead by virtual doctor
The family of a dental student who died under the watch of a virtual doctor is suing the hospital for ‘substandard care’.
Conor Hylton, a 26-year-old from Connecticut, was declared dead through a video call with a virtual ‘telehealth’ doctor in 2024.
Telehealth, a popular option for patients in the United States, allows people to receive diagnoses and prescriptions over video call. It’s commonly used for less serious ailments.
But the parents of Conor, who was diagnosed in the Intensive Care Unit with pancreatitis, dehydration, metabolic acidosis and alcohol withdrawal, allege wrongdoing.
The legal complaint, seen by Metro, reads: ‘At approximately 4.30 am, Mr Hylton slid down in his bed, his eyes rolled back, and he became unresponsive and exhibited seizure-like activity, vomited, became bradycardiac, and code was called.
‘He was intubated, but could not be resuscitated, and was pronounced dead.
‘Efforts to resuscitate Conor are erroneously attributed to (Doctor Name) in the medical record, but in reality, she did nothing, and the pronouncement was done by a ‘tele-health’ provider on a screen.’
The complaint also alleges that Conor’s next of kin were not notified when he was being transferred to the ICU, and alleged that ‘no physician was allowed to see or assess Conor while he was in the ICU for hours’.
An investigation referenced in the lawsuit found there was a delay in Hylton’s intubation -because the doctor who was intended to do it didn’t know ‘how to find the ICU and had to find someone else to show him where it was located’.
‘Conor James Hylton’s death was a direct and proximate result of the negligence of defendants Bridgeport Hospital, Yale New Haven Hospital, Inc., and Northeast Medical Group, Inc.
The complaint included information about the ‘tele-ICU’, which they described as: ‘This hospital utilises the service of a ‘tele-ICU’, which means there are no ICU intensivists present on site.
‘Instead, the hospitalist in this case is responsible for Mr Hylton’s care, but she never saw the patient.’
His father, William, said: ‘He was 26. This shouldn’t have happened. He had so much life to look forward to, and he was so proud to be in dental school.
‘It was just such a shock to everybody.’
In a statement to Metro, Yale New Haven Health said: ”Yale New Haven Health is aware of this lawsuit and is committed to providing the safest and highest quality of care possible; however, we are unable to comment on pending litigation.’
Metro also contacted Bridgeport Hospital and Northeast Medical Group, Inc.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.