COSTA MESA, Calif., Feb. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Harvey Cohoon, 78, was the victim of two separate tragedies committed by two separate entities that were supposed to protect him. The first tragedy was committed by Victoria Health Care Center ("Victoria Healthcare") in Costa Mesa, California, who provided Mr. Cohoon with the wrong diet causing him to choke to death.
Mr. Cohoon was admitted into Victoria Healthcare in December 2012 for rehabilitative care from his recent cancer treatment. His oncologist had given the retired aerospace computer engineer and keen Trivial Pursuit player a 90 percent chance of full recovery.
During his admission, Mr. Cohoon had difficulty swallowing and was ordered to be on a mechanical soft diet. On December 28, 2012, instead of being provided a mechanical soft diet, he was given a chicken dinner, not appropriately chopped, and was left unattended when he was to be specifically monitored. When Victoria Healthcare's staff finally checked on Mr. Cohoon, he was found unresponsive.
When paramedics arrived, they pulled out "chunks" of chicken from his throat. At Hoag Hospital, where Mr. Cohoon was transported, the ER physician pulled out another 10 pieces of chicken from his airway. Mr. Cohoon died the following day on December 29, 2012 due to respiratory failure from a complete obstruction to his airway.
The second tragedy was committed by the California Department of Public Health (DPH), Orange County District, who failed to hold Victoria Healthcare accountable for Mr. Cohoon's death. Although DPH substantiated the complaint's allegations, DPH concluded that the facility had not violated any regulations. Had DPH found a regulatory violation, the facility would have been required to develop, adopt, and implement a "Plan of Correction" to ensure that this tragedy would not occur again.
Michael Moran from Moran Law, Santa Ana, represents the Cohoon family in the civil action (Cohoon v. Costa Victoria Healthcare, LLC, et. al, Case #00679676) with Trial scheduled in the Orange County Superior Court for March 2015.
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SOURCE Moran Law
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