Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. (AP) -- A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against the wife of a wealthy Oklahoma oilman by the man's daughters in Washington County District Court.<br/><br/>The lawsuit, brought

Wednesday, March 7th 2007, 1:53 pm

By: News On 6

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. (AP) -- A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against the wife of a wealthy Oklahoma oilman by the man's daughters in Washington County District Court.

The lawsuit, brought by Darian Doornbos Kedy of Bartlesville, representing the estate of Charles Foster Doornbos, 71, alleges that her incapacitated father died after he choked on a piece of steak.

The suit claims Doornbos' wife, Patricia K. Gilliland Doornbos, was negligent in his care and should be held responsible for his death. Foster Doornbos died in October 2006 in Sedona, Ariz.

The petition states that in February 2006, a gastric feeding tube was surgically implanted through Foster Doornbos' stomach wall to provide his nutrition.

From that time on, Doornbos was to be fed exclusively through the tube, and nothing though his mouth, according to the petition.

"Defendant was well aware that, after the placement of the feeding tube, any ingestion of food by mouth was likely to cause Foster to choke and die," the petition states.

Following Foster Doornbos' death, Kedy and her sisters learned of Gilliland Doornbos' plan to have their father cremated immediately.

According to the petition, the daughters attempted to obtain Gilliland Doornbos' agreement to delay the cremation so that an autopsy could be conducted.

Gilliland Doornbos did not respond to the request, so Kedy filed for a temporary restraining order with an Arizona court to prevent the cremation of her fathers body so that a petition for post-mortem examination could be heard and determined, the petition states.

The court ruled in Kedys favor and an autopsy was performed.

"The autopsy revealed that the proximate cause of the death of Foster Doornbos was asphyxiation from choking on a piece of steak. The steak was lodged in his trachea," according to the petition.