Kaiser Staff Choked Anxious Woman, She Claims in Court
2-4-2019 21:31:00


STOCKTON, Calif. (CN) – Kaiser staff choked a woman while giving her an anti-anxiety injection, she claims in San Joaquin County Superior Court.


Tina Duncan sued Kaiser Permanente Hospital, Suzanne Anderson, Tiffany Thomas and Heather Blackwell for medical battery, battery and negligence.

According to the lawsuit, Duncan went to the Kaiser emergency room in Manteca for an anxiety attack on Jan. 22, 2018. When a nurse, identified as “Doe,” tried to give Duncan an injection in her right shoulder, Duncan asked that the injection be given in her left shoulder instead, due to a previous injury to her right shoulder, it says.

The complaint continues:

     “The Doe defendant then proceeded to attempt to apply the injection to the plaintiff’s right shoulder despite her instructions.
     "The plaintiff tried to move out of the Doe defendant's aim to avoid receiving he injection in her right shoulder, and during that time, defendant Anderson, with the assistance of defendant Thomas grabbed the plaintiff and slammed her down forcefully to the hospital bed that she was sitting on.
     “In fear of being harmed and suffering from extreme emotional distress, the plaintiff attempted to defend herself from being slammed to the hospital bed and tried to remove the defendants’ hands from her body and got off of the bed and was standing up.
     "Defendant Anderson then placed her hands around the plaintiff’s neck and began choking the plaintiff, with defendant Thomas assisting, preventing plaintiff from being able to breathe.
     “In a desperate attempt to remove the defendant Anderson’s hands from clutching her throat, the plaintiff in self-defense started scratching the defendant’s arms.
     "Subsequently, defendants Anderson, Thomas and Blackwell all grabbed the plaintiff against her will."

Duncan was then arrested and charged with assault, based on the Kaiser employees’ false report that she had attacked them without provocation, according to the complaint.

Tina Duncan seeks general, punitive and compensatory damages, prejudgment interest and a jury trial. She is represented by Stanley Goff in San Francisco.
STK-CV-UPI-2019-885