The family of a 35-year-old man who passed away after his condition worsened while being treated for a perforated bowel at the Milford campus of Bridgeport Hospital has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the hospital and other healthcare providers involved in his care.
Charles “C.J.” Dias, a resident of West Haven, died at the Milford facility on November 22, 2021. His brother, Jonathan Dias of Milford, serves as the administrator of Charles Dias' estate and is the plaintiff in the lawsuit, which was filed in March in state Superior Court in Bridgeport.
The defendants named in the lawsuit include Bridgeport Hospital, its parent organization Yale New Haven Hospital Inc., the Yale-affiliated Northeast Medical Group Inc., the Hartford HealthCare-affiliated Physicians Alliance of Connecticut LLC (PACT), and Dr. Bayode A. Afolalu, a kidney specialist associated with PACT.
According to his obituary, Charles Dias owned a business called CJ Cards and Collectibles and worked as a building manager within the Fairfield school system.
The lawsuit stems from the medical care Dias received after he went to the hospital on November 20, 2021, due to pain from diverticulitis, a condition involving inflamed pouches in the wall of the large intestine, explained attorney Kathleen Nastri of Koskoff Koskoff and Bieder PC, who represents Dias’ estate. A CT scan performed at the hospital showed that Dias had a "contained perforation" of his intestine, meaning that its contents were not leaking into the abdominal cavity, a condition that can prevent severe infection.
Nastri explained that on November 21, 2021, hospital staff felt reassured when Dias occasionally reported a lack of abdominal pain. However, on November 22, 2021, Dias was sent for a follow-up CT scan. After returning from the scan, he experienced what was described as a panic attack. Hospital personnel called for a rapid response and attempted to alert his surgical team, Nastri said.
"I am very skeptical that it was a panic attack," Nastri said, noting that if more experienced medical personnel had been involved at that point, they might have recognized the urgent nature of Dias’ symptoms.
Later that day, Dias was sent for an ultrasound of his kidneys. The lawsuit claims that he required surgery at that time but did not receive it, Nastri stated. A severe infection, such as one caused by the leakage of intestinal contents, can lead to sepsis, a life-threatening condition where the body's response to infection can impair the functioning of organs.
In a statement, Bridgeport Hospital said it is "committed to providing the safest and highest quality of care possible" but could not comment on pending litigation. A spokesperson for Yale New Haven Hospital and Northeast Medical Group did not respond to requests for comment, and neither PACT nor attorney Robert E. Kiley, who represents PACT and Dr. Afolalu, provided a comment.
Connecticut law mandates that medical malpractice lawsuits be supported by opinion letters from professionals in the same medical specialties as the defendants. Although the authors of these letters are not publicly identified, one such letter from a board-certified nephrologist indicated that despite clear clinical evidence of sepsis, Dr. Afolalu failed to document concerns about the condition or notify the surgical team of its potential severity.
The nephrologist also stated that Afolalu’s urgent order for a kidney ultrasound "delayed rather than informed his care plan," postponing critical treatment for sepsis and increasing the risk of cardiac arrest during the procedure.
Additionally, a board-certified general surgeon reviewed the actions of the surgical team, concluding that had Dias been taken to surgery on the morning of November 22, 2021, to address the intestinal perforation, "he would have survived this hospitalization and not died of sepsis."
Both doctors reserved the right to amend their opinions should more information become available.
Alex Wood