Congresswoman’s Mysterious Death Raises Questions As Family Blames ‘Medical Negligence’

The family of the late Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, a Democrat Texas lawmaker and the first registered nurse elected to Congress, has accused a Dallas rehabilitation facility of medical negligence leading to her untimely death. Johnson passed away at 89.

Her death was a result of a severe infection developed under questionable circumstances at the Baylor Scott & White Institute for Rehabilitation following back surgery. The infection, which eventually led to her death on December 31, was allegedly caused by her being left unattended in her own feces.

In a statement Thursday, Baylor Scott & White Health called Johnson “an inspiration to all,” and expressed their commitment to collaborating with her family and attorney.

The family’s attorney, Les Weisbrod, has announced their intention to file a lawsuit for medical negligence. Johnson’s case is particularly poignant given her background as a nurse.

New: Eddie Bernice Johnson’s family says medical neglect lead to former congresswoman’s death https://t.co/JbI1lSXDhX

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“I thought it was going to be a case for the pain that she went through and the additional procedures she went through and the medical bills and that she was going to recover,” Weisbrod said. “And so it’s very distressing for me that she succumbed to this.”

“Deplorable,” he continued. “She was being unattended to. She was screaming out in pain and for help.”

The Texas Tribune reported:

But on Sept. 21, her son, Kirk Johnson, was on his way to the center for a routine meeting about her care when his mother called him saying she needed her sheets changed and that nobody was responding to her calls for help for at least 15 minutes, the son said. When he got there 15 minutes later, still nobody was there and his mother, he said, was lying unattended in her bed in her own feces and urine, the statement said. There were no nurses at the nursing station when he went to find help, the statement said.

“She was screaming out in pain, asking for help,” Kirk Johnson told reporters.

He found an administrator and his mother was cleaned up and assigned a different caretaker. The family estimates that she was unattended in her own feces and urine for at least an hour.

“[CEO] Mr. [David] Smith appeared concerned as he had witnessed and smelled the horrid situation,” the statement says. “According to Mr. Johnson, Mr. Smith’s response was ‘This shouldn’t have happened.’”

“She knew what happened to her, we discussed it, and she asked me to pursue a case for her,” Weisbrod said. “And of course I thought it was going to be a case for the pain that she went through, and the additional procedure she went through and the medical bills, and that she was going to recover. It’s very distressing for me that she succumbed to this.”

First elected in 1992, Johnson was a representative for Texas’s 30th congressional district and a member of the Democratic Party. Her career was marked by her emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, healthcare, and infrastructure development.

Additionally, Johnson was recognized for her leadership roles in various congressional committees and subcommittees, particularly those focusing on science and infrastructure.