Iowa family files wrongful death lawsuit against Sioux City hospital

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCRG) - The family of Michael Dreckman is alleging medical negligence against Mercy Hospital in Sioux City after they say he flatlined and staff did not respond for over five minutes.

According to court documents, Dreckman was admitted to Mercy Hospital in Sioux City for acute coronary syndrome and underway a successful surgery five days later. He was admitted to the ICU where he began recovery. On the third day of recovery, Dreckman’s heart began beating rapidly. Staff administered amiodarone three times within a 4-hour period and gave him an intravenous drip of amiodarone.

The lawsuit states that this amounted to a “toxic dose of amiodarone.”

Approximately three hours after the previous injection of amiodarone, Dreckman’s heart rate went into heart block with long pauses in his heartbeat. The lawsuit alleges that the telemetry readings showed that Dreckman’s heartbeat flatlined for a full five minutes without any intervention from staff.

The complaint also states that Dreckman’s wife and daughter walked into the room and found him unresponsive and grey with his monitor flashing and beeping and no staff attending to him. It was only after they ran into the hall shouting for help that staff came. Dreckman was pronounced dead approximately 30 minutes later.

The lawsuit alleges negligence and vicarious liability for giving Mr. Dreckman a toxic dose of amiodarone, failing to monitor his vital signs, and more.