Posted on 02/14/2026 5:03:40 AM PST by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Hospitals and surgery centers can’t wait to LITERALLY kick patients to the curb. They release them too soon when an overnight in the hospital would be more beneficial in the long run.
This case seems a little sus. Friends and family have had procedures recently, and a procedure won’t be done unless someone comes with the patient, remains at the facility the entire time, and transports the patient from there. Patient never is left alone, and staff assists the patient into the car.
I suppose that varies from state to state, and/or from provider to provider.
When my sister was in the hospital a few years ago, there was a sign on the wall. Essentially it said any violence toward the staff would result in your eviction. Period. When I first started reading it, I was thinking it was about reporting violence by the staff to the patients. Exact opposite.
And the story says he wanted out. Can they keep him there against his will? Wouldn’t that be another lawsuit?
Sometimes situations like these are problematic on all sides.
Well maybe Seth and Gayle should be suing themselves for familial abandonment and neglect ?
> a procedure won’t be done unless someone comes with the patient <
That’s the rule in my neck of the woods, too. But here’s the thing. In my experience, no one really checks. When I sign in, I’m asked if an escort is with me. I say yes.
And that’s it. No one verifies what I claimed.
Eating disorders are very nasty things. They are built on deceitful behaviors. After long, every aspect of the person’s life is second to the condition. They will say or do anything to maintain the grip that eating disorder has on them.
I’ve no brief for Big Med, but I suspect there’s a lot more to this story.
It can harder to discharge patients than people think.
The solution to the problem is obvious.
Kill the Lawyer.
She was at her normal ambulance chasing post and saw the opportunity to make a few $$$
Mike Obama got a new job in AZ?
Obama Care redux..
Are they illegal aliens? If so, they deserve NOTHING.
Kaelan lashed out and struck a nurse
Kaelan lashed out and found out .
If I remember correctly Mike Obama did the same thing.
My brother-in-law was in a car crash, was not wearing a seatbelt, and was ejected from the vehicle injuring his back but he survived. A few days later he told the doctor he was leaving the hospital the next day. The doctor told him he need to stay but he left anyway because they can't hold you against your will. He had back problems for the rest of his life.
“And the story says he wanted out. Can they keep him there against his will? Wouldn’t that be another lawsuit?
Sometimes situations like these are problematic on all sides.”
The short answer is yes, it’s problematic and the hospital and the law are going to advocate for the patient being “right” in that if he says he wants to leave, they cannot hold him against his will unless very high bars of criteria are met and confirmed by legal proceedings. The unfortunate part of life is that people make bad decisions and we must respect those bad decisions, under the law, in most circumstances. It is sad that the relationships here were so difficult that closer tabs were nor being kept by his family, but I wonder if lots of history and burned bridges exist between the son and his family? Anyone can sue for nearly anything. It does not automatically follow that the suits have merit and will be closely considered. Hospital has deepest pockets here so they sue them. Hoping for a nuisance settlement from hospital’s legal team, perhaps?
As a society we need to bring back insane asylums. It is not compassionate, IMHO, to allow mentally ill people to live on the streets because they are mentally ill and substance-abusing. Just my 2 cents here.
My mom had a stroke and went to the hospital. She started getting crazy. Well, my mom was bipolar and they had stopped her bipolar meds. It was such a mess. Then they wanted to release her to me or my brother when she was crazy. We convinced them to let us find care for her, but it was very stressful. My mom was refusing lots of care. Well, she had a stroke and she was off her meds. She was crazy.
*Kaelan* is a man’s name??????
Questions:
1. Was the guy actually homeless?
2. Did the guy have insurance?
3. Was the guy a US citizen?
4. If the guy could not take care of himself, and his family knew this, why weren’t they there or able to be contacted to save the hospital the Uber fee?
My wife is a psychiatrist and was chair of the disruptive behavior committee for a large hospital.
In addition, she often worked the ER and was responsible for involuntary commitments.
You must always protect the patient from themselves and others from them.
Many years ago when I first visited her home, I opened her desk drawer to get a pen and was surprised to find a handful of 45 auto bullets. She does not own a gun.
She explained that she convinced a Vietnam Vet who was suicidal to give her the bullets from his gun. Guns are their security blanket and you only take them away as a last resort.
The medical malpractice attorneys salivate when a person commits suicide as it is easy for the family to sue the Dr for not stopping the suicide.
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