In 2008 Mary Ann Licatino filed a medical malpractice suit on behalf of her late daughter, Stacy Meaux, who died of a heart attack a day after receiving treatment at the Christus Hospital at St. Mary.The suit alleges that Meaux's death was largely rooted in an incorrect diagnosis by the attending physician, Dr. Michael Peterson, and negligent treatment by the facility's nursing staff.
While Dr. Peterson opted to settle his case last August, Christus chose to defend themselves in the civil trial brought against them. Earlier in the month a jury found that St. Mary's nurses failed to adequately treat Meaux, leading directly to her death from cardiac arrest.
Dr. Peterson defended his treatment of the patient, but admitted to the South East Texas Record that if there had been a misdiagnosis, the fault would lie with him.
"If the nurses mis-triaged her, it was my responsibility to correct," Dr. Peterson told the Record.