Patient who woke up covered in bugs at Henry Ford Hospital takes legal action

A cancer patient who says he was covered in bugs when he woke up on a gurney at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit in May has hired a lawyer and plans to file a claim against the hospital, according to Fox 2 Detroit.

Tyrone Foster went to Henry Ford Hospital for chest and neck pain, and he fell asleep on a gurney while waiting for test results. He says he woke up to bugs — either lice or bed bugs — crawling all over his body.

Henry Ford traced the bed bugs back to wet, infested clothing that was placed under the mattress of Mr. Foster's gurney.

The hospital has apologized for the incident and hopes to resolve the matter.

"As we stated when this first happened, we are sincerely sorry this happened and expressed that to the patient and his family immediately that day," Henry Ford Hospital said in a statement to Fox 2 Detroit. "This was caused by infested, wet clothing that had been concealed under the mattress on a gurney in our Emergency Department. We have no evidence the clothing was placed there by one of our team members. This was an isolated incident, no other patients were affected, and we've taken steps to ensure it doesn't happen again. We are confident we can reach an amicable resolution of this matter."

Mr. Foster's lawyer has filed a notice of intent to sue on behalf of his client. The hospital has five months to respond to the legal filing and produce requested documents, according to the report.

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