Arizona family sues hospital, says staff ‘Ubered’ sick son to sidewalk where he died

NY Post ^ | 02/14/2026 | Louis Casiano, Fox News

[DFG]

An Arizona family is calling for change and demanding answers after a 27-year-old man died hours after he was wrongfully discharged from a hospital and dumped on a sidewalk during a hot summer day, according to a wrongful death lawsuit.

Seth and Gayle Lachica, the parents of Kaelen Lachica, allege staffers at Abrazo Health Arrowhead put their son in an Uber and had him dropped off outside a local homeless shelter in Phoenix despite his deteriorating condition.

“What they did is abandonment. I mean, they absolutely killed my son,” Seth Lachica told Fox News Digital.

Kaelan Lachica suffered from anorexia for nearly a decade but his condition had improved in the year preceding his hospitalization in August 2025, his father said.

Lachica was hospitalized at one center before being transferred to Abrazo Health Arrowhead after having a possible stroke and losing weight.

Days prior to his discharge, his health declined to the point he was “delusional” and “immobile,” the lawsuit states. On Aug. 13, 2025, Kaelan lashed out and struck a nurse and asked to leave the hospital “against medical advice,” the family’s attorney, Richard Lyons, told Fox News Digital.

The lawsuit alleges that Kaelan was put in a wheelchair and into an Uber, which the hospital paid for, and was taken to a homeless shelter in downtown Phoenix. He couldn’t remember his address, Lyons said.

[buckalfa]

"In all fairness did the hospital even call the family and say “come get him”? I’d come get my kid."

Yeah, that we don't know. Having worked in hospital settings, I can't imagine a facility not living up to the letter of the EMTALA law, but the letter of the law has morphed into covering the entire continuum of care for a patient after a patients condition has been stabilized and the patient is eligible for discharge. EMTALA, though well intended, has become a litigation cash cow for attorneys. It is cheaper for hospitals to settle even if they are in the right.

[Farmerbob]

27? He looks 72.