The mother of a University of Oregon freshman who died last February has filed a lawsuit against PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center. The suit claims the hospital was negligent in treating Lauren Jones who died of Meningococcal disease.
The $2.5 million lawsuit, filed in Lane County Circuit Court, alleges 18 year-old Lauren Camille Jones endured conscious pain and suffering prior to her death on February 17, 2015.
The suit, filed by Dorian Sanders, says doctors who treated her daughter Lauren at University Hospital sent her back to her dormitory without testing or treating her for Meningococcal disease; this despite 3 recent cases of the infection at the U of O.
Jones was later found unconscious in her room and taken to Sacred Heart RiverBend where she died. The lawsuit seeks economic damages in a jury trial.
A total of 7 people contracted the Meningitis-related bacterial infection, 6 U of O students and one parent. Jones was the only person who died during the outbreak.
Lauren Jones came to the U of O on an athletic scholarship. She was a member of the acrobatics and tumbling team.
In a statement Sacred Heart Medical Center expresses “deep sadness” for the death of Lauren Jones but did not further comment on pending litigation.
