'Poor' Chance Of Settlement In Jackson Hospital Lawsuit Over Gangrene Death

In the case of a woman suing a Jackson-based hospital on claims it let her undocumented-immigrant husband’s abscess turn fatal, the chances of settlement are “poor,” says a Thursday filing.

Silvia Ruth Perez, also known as Silvia Ruth Sahino Cano, sued Jackson-based St. John’s Health in the federal U.S. District Court for Wyoming last July on behalf of her late husband, 47-year-old Ociel Ponce Perez.

She also sued the hospital’s general surgery clinic, its contract company Jackson Hole Medical Imaging and multiple doctors — alleging medical personnel ignored a flesh-eating gangrene that led to her husband’s death in August 2022.

Silvia Perez accuses the hospital of “patient dumping,” or discharging her husband from the facility quickly once personnel learned he was an undocumented immigrant.

The hospital and doctors, conversely, say they acted within the standard of care.

“The four physicians associated with St. John’s Health provided extensive care and treatment to Mr. Perez,” says a statement taken from the hospital’s stance and written in a Thursday joint case management plan.

The hospital points to the surgical consultation, incision and drainage procedure, and other care Ociel Ponce Perez was given.

“These extensive diagnostic and treatment related interventions Mr. Perez received in the (emergency department) are the antithesis of ‘patient-dumping,’” it adds.

Jackson Hole Medical Imaging and its radiologist likewise deny wrongdoing.

“(We) deny that (the care given) caused any injury or damage whatsoever to Mr. Perez,” says Jackson Hole Medical Imaging’s portion of the joint case management plan.

The radiologist “properly, timely, and reasonably interpreted Mr. Perez’s radiographic imaging,” the statement adds.

The Thursday filing says the chances of settlement in this case are “poor.”

The parties propose a trial date of August 24, 2026. They’re set to discuss that and other trial topics Tuesday at a pre-trial conference, via Zoom link.

Allegations

Ociel Ponce Perez was a carpenter in Jackson who moved to the area in 1999, was an undocumented immigrant but paid taxes on the money he made, says the lawsuit complaint.

The complaint says Ociel Ponce Perez arrived in St. John’s urgent care July 30, 2022, with extreme pain in his lower trunk area.

Medical personnel drained an abscess and sent him home with antibiotics and hygiene procedure instructions written in English, his second language, it adds.

Five days later and still pain-wracked, he went to a clinic, then to the hospital’s emergency department where a CT scan showed flesh-eating gangrene.

A doctor arranged for him to fly to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, where he died Aug. 5, 2022, leaving behind his wife and two young children, the document says.