VTC Enterprises named in wrongful death lawsuit

A Santa Maria vocational training service for developmentally disabled adults is being accused of failing to seek medical attention for one of its members who later died of pneumonia, according to a lawsuit filed in Santa Barbara County Superior Court.

The case was originally filed in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court on Feb. 18, but moved to Santa Barbara County Superior Court on Sept. 12.

F. Denise Dean, the mother of 32-year-old Shane Alex Castro, states in the lawsuit that Santa Maria's VTC Enterprises and Grover Beach-based Novelles Developmental Services "Castro's in-home medical service provider" neglected to provide Castro with medical care when he began displaying symptoms of pneumonia on July 16.

At the time, Castro was a member of VTC's training program. Autistic and unable to communicate, Castro also had a swallowing disorder and was susceptible to pneumonia, the lawsuit states.

Twelve days after symptoms began, Castro was admitted to the hospital after falling and injuring his forearm and chin. In addition to receiving stitches, he was discharged with an "upper respiratory tract infection" diagnosis, the lawsuit states.

For the next two months, Castro's condition worsened and VTC staff continued to alert Novelles, according to the lawsuit, which also noted that Novelles staff had a "verbalized understanding" with Castro's primary care physician that he be returned to the emergency room if he got worse.

At various times, VTC contacted Novelles staff, insisting that Castro receive immediate medical care, according to the lawsuit. Castro died Sept. 17, 2015, at his home.

Dean accuses VTC of failing to seek immediate medical care for her son and making him wait for the training program to end.

Attorneys for Dean didn't provide comment to the Sun before press time.

However, the lawsuit states that the inaction of VTC and Novelles led to Castro's death and that his mother suffers from "loss of love, society, comfort, support, counsel, advice, solace," among other damages.

Representatives of VTC were unable to comment before press time.

In the lawsuit, it states that Novelles is formerly known as Genesis Developmental Services, a company that was the subject of a similar wrongful death claim in 2010. However, Sean Cowdrey, an Oxnard attorney representing Novelles, told the Sun that Novelles wasn't formerly known by that name and wasn't the subject of that claim. 

According to Cowdrey, the current case is being investigated and is in the very early stages. The lawsuit is scheduled for a case management conference on Jan. 17, 2017, according to Cowdrey.

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