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On January 26, 2017, Swartz & Swartz, P.C. filed new claims in an ongoing multi-million-dollar lawsuit in U.S. District Court on behalf of Fern Ornelas. The civil complaint names Elliot Hospital, Manchester police station, Valley Street jail, and several other employees and officials of those organizations as defendants. Mr. Ornelas alleges that the individuals and organizations named in the suit are liable for injuries he sustained after he was involved in a car accident in October 2013.
After being brought to Elliot Hospital for possible head trauma following the accident, Mr. Ornelas was involuntarily committed to the psychiatric ward to further diagnose his mental health condition. While awaiting transfer to a different hospital, he got into an altercation with an employee and was arrested and brought to the Manchester police station. He was eventually brought back to the hospital. Upon arrival to the hospital, a CT exam found that Mr. Ornelas had a broken neck, resulting in paralysis from the neck down.
In April 2014, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office concluded its investigation into the case, determining that the force used against Mr. Ornelas in the hospital and jail was justified, and that no crime had been committed against him. The complaint was originally filed in September 2014, but was amended last month to include four additional defendants: Manchester’s ambulance service, the Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester and two mental health center employees. There is also new evidence that Mr. Ornelas’s paralysis occurred after he was re-admitted to Elliot Hospital and was treated by its employees.
The suit claims that Mr. Ornelas was grossly mistreated in the thirty-eight-hours after his car accident where he was admitted to Elliot Hospital, arrested, and re-admitted to the hospital. Attorney David Angueira of Swartz & Swartz claims that Mr. Ornelas was subjected to physical force, not given proper medical treatment, and his complaints about neck pain were ignored. Swartz & Swartz also alleges that the wrongful conduct and negligence of the defendants resulted in grave injuries to Mr. Ornelas, including but not limited to loss of constitutional and federal rights, permanent paralyses, great pain and emotional distress, and economic damages. The next step, according to Attorney Angueira, is to determine the precise series of events leading to Mr. Ornelas’ paralysis. Trial is expected to start in November of this year.
Headquartered in the historic John Hancock House in Boston’s Freedom Trail, the Massachusetts personal injury lawyers at Swartz & Swartz, P.C. 10 Marshall St, Boston, MA 02108 (617) 742-1900, handle all claims arising from personal injury accidents, catastrophic injuries, medical malpractice, and many other practice ares.
Release ID: 168335