A recent court filing reveals a gripping case of alleged medical negligence leading to a wrongful death. On June 12, 2024, Tamara Steinberg, as Administrator ad Litem of the Estate of Barney D. Steinberg, filed a complaint in the Circuit Court of the Sixth Judicial Circuit in Pinellas County, Florida against Dr. Brian Charity, Bay Area Emergency Physicians, LLC (BAEP), and Morton Plant Hospital Association, Inc. d/b/a Morton Plant Hospital (MPH).

The lawsuit centers around events that transpired following Barney D. Steinberg’s surgery for throat cancer on April 27, 2021. After being admitted to Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Largo for post-surgery rehabilitation on May 6, 2021, Barney experienced bleeding from his mouth on May 23, 2021. He was subsequently taken to Morton Plant Hospital’s Emergency Department where he was evaluated by Dr. Brian Charity.

According to the complaint, Dr. Charity failed to order necessary imaging and did not adequately communicate with the on-call otolaryngologist about the source of Barney’s bleeding. The plaintiff alleges that Dr. Charity did not consider a tracheoinnominate artery fistula—a life-threatening condition—in his differential diagnosis and advised only minor treatments such as holding Lovenox and continuing periodic mouth washes.