Dead in a restroom for 48 hours: Manuel's family is demanding 200,000 euros at the Vall d'Hebron.

BarcelonaManuel was admitted to Vall d'Hebron Hospital in October 2020 for tests and never left. He was 89 years old, diabetic, and had only one kidney. After taking his blood, they gave him a container to collect a urine sample and showed him where the restrooms were. Once inside, he suffered a multi-organ failure; he was large and had several chronic illnesses, which caused his instant death. However, his body was not found until two days later, after his family reported him missing and the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) reviewed the security cameras and confirmed that the man had never left the hospital. Now, after those 48 fateful hours Since the patient entered the center for a routine test until the police located the body, his family is claiming compensation of 200,508 euros from the Catalan Health Institute (ICS).

The Legal Advisory Commission, the advisory body of the Generalitat (Catalan Government), partially accepts the claim of those affected for moral damages, but reduces the amount to approximately 9,000 euros, according to what has been announced. The Country and has been confirmed by the ARA. On the other hand, the ICS assures that the "matter is being evaluated in an administrative procedure that remains open," so it will not go into details "for privacy reasons." The family believes that the patient was summoned at an unwise hour (1:00 PM) given that he is elderly and suffers from various illnesses. They maintain that no one in the unit monitored him as if he were a high-risk patient or went to the bathrooms to ensure he was okay. "There was a lack of supervision and care on the part of the hospital staff," they assert.

Furthermore, the family members claim that no one inspected the facilities despite their warnings, nor did they clean the bathroom for more than 50 hours. They also lament the "damage, anguish, and suffering" to which they were exposed during the 48 hours in which they searched, unsuccessfully, for Manuel. For all these reasons, they claim that there was "a malfunction of the public health services, and, as a result of this abnormal functioning, the patient's death occurred," so there was "an undeniable and direct causal relationship between the administration's actions and the death." In fact, the family says that after the funeral, the center's management called them to explain the events and "everyone agreed to admit that everything had failed and apologized."

Anguish and uncertainty

Regarding the Legal Advisory Committee, its opinion maintains that "there is no doubt that the claimant has suffered actual, financially assessable, and individualized damages" in the form of moral damages due to the death of the relative. However, it argues that the compensation amount should be €8,718.66, considering that "the medical documentation does not demonstrate any malpractice linked to the fatal outcome," since "the care provided was in accordance" with the law. The advisory body considers that the responsibility of custody and surveillance of the patient fell to the family, not the medical staff, and that the responsibility for investigating the disappearance fell to the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police), not the hospital. However, it believes that the relatives have suffered moral damages due to the anguish and uncertainty suffered during the two days their relative was missing. For all these reasons, the commission estimates reducing the compensation to approximately 9,000 euros, of which 2,000 euros should go to four of his relatives and 1,000 euros to another.