A judge denied Butler Health System’s petition for summary judgment in defense of a medical malpractice lawsuit filed by the parents of a man with a severe intellectual disability alleging he died after being left unattended and choked on food in Butler Memorial Hospital in 2017.

Senior Judge Robert Yeatts’ denial in December of the health system’s motion for summary judgment was the latest action in the suit, which the man’s parents want to argue before a jury.

After considering written and oral arguments from both parties, Yeatts said a jury could reasonably find there was gross negligence.

Devin Snow, 24, had bipolar disorder, autistic spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and severe intellectual disability, which the health system knew about and provided regular care and treatment for, according to the suit filed in Butler County Common Pleas Court in January 2019 by his parents, Rodger and Rachael Snow, of Valencia.

Devin was brought to the emergency department Sept. 26, 2017, by ambulance due to his harmful and uncooperative behavior. He was accompanied by case workers from his group home, according to the suit.

The case workers were not permitted to go into Devin’s room, according to the suit. He was left unattended despite an order in his medical chart for someone to be within an arm’s length of him at all times, according to the suit.

He was given 20 milligrams of Geodon, a brand name for the sedative ziprasidone, which affects his ability to swallow, according to the suit.

After being given the drug, he was given a hamburger and other food without an order from a doctor before being left alone, according to the suit.

Shortly after being left alone, a security guard noticed urine puddling outside the door and saw Devin near the door. He had also smeared the food on the walls. When housekeeping staff arrived to clean up, they found Devin unresponsive, blue in color and with no pulse, according to case documents.

“After finding about a third of a hamburger lodged in the back of his mouth, a nurse cleared his airway and began resuscitation efforts. Devin was admitted to intensive care and was on life support for five days until Oct. 1, when his parents decided to remove him from life support,” according to the health system’s motion for summary judgment.

Butler Health System said Devin suffered an anoxic brain injury that left his chance of recovery remote.

“The psychiatric department there is not being professionally run,” said Rachael Snow on Friday, Feb. 2. “They’re not following state policies and procedures. I think they violated my son’s civil rights.”

She said she is glad the health system’s motion for summary judgment was denied, but added the case has been dragging out for years, and the nurse who treated Devin and the security guard were deposed only last year.

In addition, she said she would rather argue the case in court “so Devin could have a voice” instead of reaching a settlement that would prohibit her and her husband from publicly talking about what happened to their son.

“It’s not about us. It's about Devin,” she said.

Rodger Snow said Friday the security guard’s deposition revealed the room where Devin was placed did not have a lock on the door, and the guard was ordered to hold the door shut while Devin was inside.

“I thought my son died in a locked room,” he said.

He said the depositions brought to light other disturbing information.

Devin was taken to the hospital on an involuntary commitment obtained by Community Options, where he lived independently and cared for himself, but received help from caregivers, Rodger Snow said.

The hospital put him in a diaper even though he was capable of using the bathroom, and then gave him food without a doctor’s order and sedatives known to cause throat restrictions, Rodger Snow said.

After Devin was placed in the room, 40 minutes are unaccounted for by the hospital, Rodger Snow said. He said he wonders if Devin may have died in that room before he was transferred to intensive care.

“It wreaks of a cover up,” Rodger Snow said.

He said he has asked Butler Township police to file a report on his son’s death so it can be referred to the district attorney’s office for a possible criminal investigation.

The Snows are demanding a jury trial and unspecified damages under the state’s Wrongful Death Act.

Butler Health System, which is now part of Independence Health System, declined to comment on the suit.

However, the health system argued in its motion for summary judgment that the medical care and food were provided to Devin as required under the Mental Health Procedures Act, so the health system is entitled to immunity.