Last Updated on Friday, 26 October 2012 18:31 Written by Janela Buhain Carrera Friday, 26 October 2012 17:58
Guam News - Guam News
Guam - Family members of Joaquin Crisostomo are now seeking answers for the death of their loved one while he was admitted at the Guam Memorial Hospital. His son, Bernard Crisostomo says his father went into GMH with flu-like symptoms and came out about a week later dead with injuries to the right side of his body.
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It was a classic case of the flu. Bernard Crisostomo?s father, Joaquin Crisostomo had flu-like symptoms, feverish with yellow stool. Because of his age, at 67, Bernard called for an ambulance and his father was taken to GMH and admitted into the telemetry ward. He then spoke with an in-house physician, Dr. Jeffrey Cruz who told him that his father will be out within three days. That was on October 11. But what happened next still remains a mystery.
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"Two days later on October 13, I get a call from the nurse saying my father fell. And I said, 'Well how did he fall?' He just said he fell, he wouldn?t explain," says Bernard. "So he fell and from the fall he had an injury to the haed, which I have photographs of. His leg started swelling and before you knew it, his health just started declining every day we went in there."
After his father?s fall, Bernard was then given a series of excuses, none of which answered any of his questions, he says. First he was told by a staff nurse that his father had gout, which would explain the swelling on the right side of his body.
The nurse then later took back her statement and said he didn?t have gout and that they would run some test. But, Bernard says, until this day, he has never seen the results of those tests if they were ever performed.
"So I asked them, I said, 'Is his life threatened at this time because my family in Hawaii wants to come out. Is it life threatning?' They said, 'No it's not life threatning at this time,'" explains Bernard.
The next explanation for his father?s mysterious condition, Bernard says, is that his father was dying because of his dental health.
"The doctor said, "I think your dad is dying because of teeth.' Exact words from Dr. Jeffrey Cruz. 'I think your father is dying because of his teeth,'" Bernard says. "He said maybe there maybe a bacterial [infection] but he said it?s treatable [with] antibiotics. But he said that--he kept avoiding what was arising, he wouldn?t say anything about the leg and the head inuries."
Bernards adds: "He was alert and everything before the fall. After the fall he was kind of dazed and confused. The nurse asked him who my wife was and he said FBI."
Finally, eight days after his father fall, Joaquin Crisostomo died on October 21st. Lacking answers, Bernard then sought to find out how his father sustained the injuries, but more importantly, why he died.
But finding out what happened to his father, Bernard would soon find out, was an arduous task with the run-around he was given. Even as he prepared to fill out a request for an autopsy, a grieving Bernard alluded to being insulted in the way he was treated by the hospital staff.
"Sera Rios [hospital staffer] talked to me for a little bit and said okay, here?s the form, but she said, 'You know this is going to cost you $3,800.' Money is not the issue right now for me. The issue is, why did my father die? That?s all I would like to know. Right now, what was the cause of his death? Because it is unknown and the doc told me three days my dad would be out and now my dad is dead," says Bernard.
Meanwhile, GMH Administrator Joseph Verga acknowledged that he had received a complaint regarding Joaquin Crisostomo?s death. While Verga says he and all of GMH sympathize with the Crisostomo family, a hospital is a place where sick people go and untimely deaths do occur.
However, he notes that his death will be investigated just as any suspicious death is handled. For Bernard and his family, all they want is to know how and why their father died.
"And closure. Most of all is closure to my family. We shouldn?t have other families on our island go through pain and suffering like this on a human life. Especially a human life. I mean if it coudl've been prevented then let?s prevent it. Let?s not shy away from this problem," he adds.
Joaquin Crisostomo was 67 years old. He is survived by his 9 children.portlandia kelly clarkson playoffs empty nest nbc sports bengals vs texans nfl playoffs
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