PORTLAND — The parents of a 20-year-old Portland man have filed a $3 million lawsuit against a Eugene hospital, saying he was suffering a severe psychotic episode when he was struck and killed by a car while jogging on the lanes of Interstate 5 two days after doctors released him from their care.
In a lawsuit filed Thursday, the parents of Evan Davenport fault medical staff at PeaceHealth’s Sacred Heart Medical Center University District for allegedly overlooking the mental crisis they say Davenport was suddenly experiencing. The lawsuit states that medical staff chalked up his irrational behavior to drug use. That’s even though tests screening for an array of drugs — including methamphetamines, cocaine, opiates, THC and methadone — showed he had none in his system, the suit states.
A PeaceHealth spokesperson, Marcy Marshall, declined to comment about the lawsuit because of the pending litigation.
“PeaceHealth offers its deepest sympathy and condolences to Evan Davenport’s family and loved ones,” Marshall said.
Davenport, who lived with his parents in Portland, was in Lane County to attend the Oregon Country Fair, according to his attorney. He was rushed by ambulance to the emergency room of University District hospital on July 10, 2016, after “he was found wandering in traffic with no apparent regard for his own safety,” according to the lawsuit. The medical chart noted that he suffered from “hallucinating behaviors” and he was mumbling his words — and he was staring at walls and making odd facial expressions, according to the lawsuit.
He told medical staff he smoked marijuana “maybe two days ago,” the suit states. The suit and the family’s attorney say staff diagnosed him with “psychosis” and “substance abuse.”
Davenport was discharged 12 hours after he arrived — with instructions to stop smoking marijuana, return to the emergency room if his symptoms worsened and to visit his primary care doctor in a week, the suit states. His parents were told he needed “tough love,” the suit states.
Two days later, he was at home with his parents “when he suddenly appeared terrified and acted as if he were seeing things. His eyes filled with tears, his face contorted. Then, he turned and left the house and starting running northbound. His father ran after him but was unable to catch him.”
At about 11:30 p.m. that night, Davenport was struck by a 2014 Jeep Wrangler on the freeway just south of Mill Plain Boulevard. The Washington State Patrol arrived to find Davenport dead in the roadway and the driver standing outside the Jeep, according to a story in The Columbian.
Portland attorney Cynthia Newton is representing Davenport’s parents, Gary and Sue Davenport.
“Despite Evan’s negative drug screen, the ER staff seemed to persist in the belief that Evan’s symptoms and behavior — that put him in grave danger — were caused by an undetected and/or undetectable ‘mystery drug’ when, in fact, they were signs that he was experiencing an acute psychotic episode,” Newton said.
Newton said his parents followed the advice offered by the hospital.
“Evan’s condition in the emergency room was unlike anything his parents had seen before,” Newton said. “They were at a loss about what to do and trusted and relied on the emergency room staff to determine what evaluation and care he needed to remain safe and recover.”
Eugene Emergency Physicians, which the suit says employed two doctors who treated Evan Davenport, also is listed among defendants in the lawsuit.
