$4.2M payout after death at clinic of man with sore throat

HONOLULU (AP) — The widow and children of a man who went to a rural Hawaii health center with a sore throat in 2013 and ended up dead will receive a $4.2 million settlement from the federal government, the widow's lawyer said Wednesday.

Antonio Marrero, 32, went to the emergency room of Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, where a doctor determined he had an abscess in his tonsils and arranged for him to see an ear, nose and throat specialist, lawyer Richard Fried said.

Marrero said she was hopeful that the health center, known locally as "the comp," will follow through with promised steps to make sure that a similar death never happens again.

The health center implemented changes after the death, including a new emergency room director overseeing operations and a full-time chief compliance officer who is also an attorney.

The federal government will pay the settlement because the center is a federally qualified community nonprofit health center that's insured by the Federal Tort Claims Act, said center President and Chief Executive Officer Richard Bettini.

Marrero said her maintenance mechanic husband stayed home with his sore throat for about a week, struggling to eat and suffering fevers.