An Oregon family says a basic ER step was skipped, with fatal results. A wrongful death lawsuit filed in Multnomah County alleges that 18-year-old Ethan Cantrell died of a raging infection days after staff at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis stitched up a puncture wound in his arm without first clearing it of plant debris, per NBC News. Cantrell was injured while cutting wood on Aug. 15, 2024, and an ER doctor allegedly only "attempted to irrigate" the wound using saline before closing it up, then sent him home with a weeklong antibiotic prescription.
By later that day, Cantrell's arm was swelling and he had a fever, but a hospital nurse reportedly told his mother there was no cause for alarm because he was on antibiotics, per the complaint. The nurse also told Cantrell's mother that the fever had emerged because her son had likely come down with COVID-19, the suit notes, per the Corvallis Advocate. When Cantrell's condition worsened, he returned to the ER and was again seen by the same physician, identified by KGW as Dr. Robert Schweiss, who suspected a deep-tissue infection but didn't remove the sutures or change medications, the suit says.
Hours later, another physician opened the wound and removed more than a dozen pieces of twigs, pine needles, and moss, per the complaint. Cantrell was transferred to Oregon Health & Science University and underwent multiple surgeries, including an arm amputation, per NBC. He died Aug. 20 of "necrotizing soft tissue infection," the suit notes. Samaritan Health Services said it would respond in court and offered condolences.
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