Michael Jackson once “kicked a dying woman out of her hospital room” when he presented with “flu-like symptoms”.
The Thriller hitmaker was accused of contributing to an elderly woman’s death as he requested the hospital move her out of her private room while she was being treated for a heart attack. Once moved, the woman suffered two more cardiac arrests and then died – with her family later suing the hospital.
In February 2005, Jackson was admitted to the Marian Medical Centre in Santa Maria, California, for “flu-like symptoms and some vomiting”. Jackson’s team moved her out of the trauma room so he could have a larger room to himself, while she was relocated to a smaller room.
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The woman in question was 73-year-old Manuela Gomez Ruiz, whose heart was functioning at 30%. Her organs were failing, and she was using a machine ventilator to have her breathing assisted by a pump. She was taken off the ventilator to switch rooms with Jackson.
(Image: Getty Images)
At the same time, the room change meant family members missed out on seeing Manuela before she died. Only two visitors were allowed in the smaller room at a time, and once in they could not leave to switch out with someone else due to security purposes around the singer.
Manuela’s grandson Marcos told Good Morning America: “This was the last time we might be able to talk with our grandma. They took that from us. They shouldn’t have treated us any different. Close the door, keep him in the room, let us spend time with our grandma. We weren’t there for him. We were there for my grandma.”
(Image: Getty Images)
Later, the family went ahead with suing Jackson and the medical centre. Judge Rodney Melville allowed challenges to the complaint filed by attorneys. The lawsuit claimed a crowd of fans milling around Jackson delayed Ruiz’s arrival at the critical care unit, describing it as an “outrageous, circus-like atmosphere”.
It went on to allege: “[Ruiz] was kept alive in an exam room using hand-pumped oxygen until she could be reconnected to a life-support machine.”
(Image: AFP/Getty Images)
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The whole thing took place as Jackson faced trial on child molestation charges, which he was later acquitted of. But the lawsuit claimed: “Manuela Ruiz was dying. Michael Jackson was also dying … dying not to go to court that day.”
Later, however, the suit against Jackson was dropped by the judge, while the Ruiz family stopped the case against the hospital due to stress. Their attorney, James McKiernan, said in 2007: “The defendants made it clear that it was going to be bare knuckles to the end. I’m representing people who have families and jobs, and the constant stress of this lengthy process was too much.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
