BLOUNTSTOWN , Fla., Dec. 23 (UPI) — State law enforcement officials are investigating the death of a woman who collapsed and died after she was removed from a Florida hospital where she sought treatment.
Barbara Dawson, 57, of Bristol, Fla., was admitted Sunday evening to Calhoun Liberty Hospital in nearby Blountstown after arriving by ambulance and seeking help for stomach pain.
She was discharged several hours later, Blountstown Police Chief Mark Mallory said, but refused to leave the hospital, saying her condition had not improved.
“She was causing a disturbance in the hospital with her language and the volume of her voice,” Mallory said.
Charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct, she was handcuffed and escorted from the hospital by police. She collapsed as she entered a police car, was readmitted to the hospital and died there several hours later.
Relatives suggest Dawson, who was African American and used an oxygen tank to help her breathe, was possibly mistreated by hospital staff and police, saying the hospital nursing staff “banned” her from the hospital. The family has retained a lawyer, and the local NAACP chapter held a meeting Tuesday to discuss the matter.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced it has taken over the investigation into Dawson’s death.
“If her death was wrongfully determined, then somehow, someway, there needs to be some sort of recompense to the family,” Dale Landry of the Florida NAACP said in a statement. “Because here we have an innocent person taken into custody and now they’ve lost their life when all they did was come and ask for medical help.”
