Tabatha’s mom: Death blamed on tube in throat

Friday, Nov. 21, 2003 | 11:01 a.m.

The throat of the 13-year-old girl who died four days after being released from University Medical Center had swollen shut because of injuries caused by a tube that had been shoved down the teen's windpipe at the hospital, her mother alleged this morning.

Melody Frenzel, the mother of Tabatha Speas, said the medical examiner who performed the autopsy on her daughter told her that "the cause of death was that her throat was swollen from the tube that was initially stuck down her throat, causing damage to her voice box."

Clark County Coroner Michael Murphy said he could not confirm that was the cause of death.

"I can confirm that the doctor had a conversation with the mother, but I cannot say what was said," Murphy said. "I'm not going to say that the mother is incorrect, but sometimes people say what they believe they were told and not what actually was said."

Murphy said today that an official cause of death is still about four weeks away, as his office waits for the results of toxicology tests, cultures, slides and tissue sample tests.

UMC on Wednesday issued a statement saying Speas' mother received and signed discharge instructions for her daughter's care.

UMC spokeswoman Cheryl Persinger has declined comment on the hospital's treatment of Speas citing new federal patient privacy laws.

Persinger has said, however, that the fact that Speas did not have health insurance played no role in the treatment given her daughter or in her discharge from the hospital two days after the girl came out of a coma.

Frenzel referred further questions on the matter to her attorney, John Wawerna.

Earlier this week, Wawerna and Tabatha's father, Michael Speas, told the Sun that the care instructions the hospital provided when Tabatha was discharged were inadequate.

The discharge instructions from UMC on Nov. 2 told the family to bring the girl to an orthopedic surgeon, pulmonary specialist and pediatrician within two weeks of leaving the hospital, Michael Speas and Wawerna said.

Tabatha was brought back to UMC on Nov. 3 complaining of difficulty breathing, dizziness, blurry vision and nausea. The family was sent home with instructions on how to deal with Tabatha's croup and told to buy a vaporizer, they said.

The instructions noted that "croup is a swelling of a portion of the voice box and is usually caused by a virus."

Tabatha and her friend, Adriana Lauzon, also 13, were struck by a car as they crossed Shinnecock Hills Avenue near Tucci Street in southwest Las Vegas on Oct. 15. Both girls brought by helicopter to UMC from the accident.

Lauzon died at UMC on Oct. 21. Tabatha was in a coma until Oct. 31, and was discharged two days later on a Sunday. She returned to UMC late Monday and was sent home again early Tuesday. Tabatha died at home on Nov. 6.