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Patient dies after struggle with employees at Cape Cod Hospital

E-mail|Link|Comments () October 31, 2009 05:30 PM

By Hannah McBride, Globe Correspondent

A patient at Cape Cod Hospital has died after being involved in a struggle with hospital employees, a hospital official said.

The patient, who had to be restrained by hospital workers waiting for police assistance, died earlier this week, said hospital spokesman Dave Reilly.

"The hospital’s employees were trying to prevent the patient from harming others within the facility while waiting for the police to return to the hospital," Reilly said, reading from a prepared statement.

Barnstable police had been called to the hospital earlier that day to assist with the same patient, he said.

Several employees were injured but not as seriously as those injured in the stabbing at Massachusetts General Hospital Tuesday, Reilly said. He said the hospital is cooperating with reviews underway by the Department of Public Health and state and local police.

Reilly would provide no further details, citing medical privacy laws.

The Cape Cod Times reported today, based on unidentified sources, that the altercation happened Oct. 9 and the man was on life support for nearly two weeks before he died. Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe told the Times that his office was investigating the incident.