OMAHA – A jury determined that CHI Health was not negligent in the death of a 47-year-old woman who was treated at the hospital in November 2022 and died in a jail cell.
Aundrea Milnes arrived at CHI Health-Creighton University Medical Center in the early morning hours of November 3, 2022, complaining of lower abdomen pain.
At the hospital, she was examined by a nurse and a doctor, who diagnosed her with menstrual cramps and discharged her. However, Milnes’ family attorney stated that she died as a result of complications from an abdominal and intestinal condition.
According to reports, Milnes refused to leave the hospital and returned about 25 minutes later through a different entrance. Her family stated that she was in “severe and excruciating pain, laying in front of the east entrance.”
When the woman refused to leave, the hospital called the police, who arrested Milnes for trespassing and booked her into the Douglas County Corrections facility, where she was pronounced dead shortly before 3 p.m. that afternoon.
A grand jury determined about a year after Milnes’ death that there was no evidence of wrongdoing by law enforcement, and court documents state that the doctor, nurse, and hospital as a whole deny any wrongdoing, claiming they met the standard of care.
The case went to trial on Tuesday, January 21. Nine days later, the jury determined that Milnes had been stabilized before being discharged from the hospital, indicating that CHI Health-CUMC had followed federal law EMTALA — despite the fact that she returned and died a few hours later.
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