Man dies in parking lot after hospital refuses him treatment, family says

ST. PETERS, Mo. — A Missouri family is mourning after its patriarch died in a parking lot after a hospital refused treatment, they said.

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Sadie Bell said her husband David went to the emergency room at Barnes Jewish Hospital twice, and the third time he was released and died in the parking lot while leaving to seek treatment elsewhere, KMOV reported.

Sadie Bell said they went to the hospital twice the week of Jan. 8 after David Bell, 39, complained of severe chest pains. Staff refused to admit him both times, she said. Instead, they prescribed him Ibuprofen and sent him away.

Bell, the director for Central County Fire and Rescue, was rushed back to the same hospital Jan. 12 when he started having trouble breathing at work, KMOV reported. When Sadie Bell arrived, David was seated in a wheelchair outside of the building. She said doctors refused to examine him.

She started taking him to the car so they could go to another hospital when he died.

The hospital said it could not comment because of patient privacy laws. They did make a statement.

“Our thoughts are with the family after this loss, as well as with the entire Central County Fire and Rescue team,” hospital officials told KMOV.

A crowd source funding account was set up to help pay for funeral and other costs.

“It is with profound sadness and the heaviest of hearts that we announce the passing of Central County Fire and Rescue Board Director David Bell. David leaves behind a wife, three young children, and a host of family and friends who will miss him dearly, including the entire CCFR family.

“(David) led our CCFR family through some very challenging and difficult times these past three years, and you certainly succeeded in supporting us in more ways than we could ever begin to list out here,” the agency said on social media. “We are all better for having known and worked with you to support and protect our community. We overcame some tremendous challenges and accomplished some amazing things under your leadership. The legacy you’ve left behind has undoubtedly made our community safer and better for having you at the helm for the past three years.”

Cox Media Group