Lawyer: Woods’ brother did not get proper care

updated 6:25 p.m. ET Nov. 9, 2009

WARWICK, R.I. - A hospital did not do enough to care for the brother of James Woods when he went to the emergency room complaining of a sore throat and vomiting in 2006, a lawyer for the actor told jurors Monday at the trial of a wrongful death lawsuit.

Michael Woods died from heart disease at Kent Hospital on July 26, 2006, after going into cardiac arrest on a gurney. He was 49.

Attorney Mark Decof said in opening statements that the actor's brother wasn't seen by a doctor until an hour after he arrived and was initially treated in a section of the emergency room generally reserved for less-urgent cases.

Even after an EKG came back abnormal, he was not given oxygen, aspirin or hooked up to heart monitoring to track further deterioration — all part of the standard of care in treating someone in Woods' condition, Decof said.

Instead, he was given additional X-rays and left on a gurney near a nurse's station because no room was available. He went into cardiac arrest and died nearly three hours after his arrival.

Tests inconsistent with heart attack
Lawyers for the hospital said Woods' symptoms were inconsistent with someone having a heart attack. They said he denied to the nurse that he was having more typical symptoms, like chest pain, and even tried to downplay his illness by assuring her that he was fine and didn't need so much attention. They said he had previously complained of a sore throat.

Though Decof said Woods died following a heart attack, defense lawyers said enzyme tests ordered earlier by the doctor came back negative for a heart attack.

Woods was overweight, had high blood pressure, an artery severely clogged with plaque and a clot, and he also suffered from myocardial ischemia, a condition caused by lack of blood flow to the heart. Defense lawyers say his heart and arteries were already so diseased that it would have been impossible to save him.

"Only a psychic could have known what was actually wrong with him," said defense lawyer Jason Preciphs.

The tests that were ordered, he added, "didn't rule anything in and it didn't rule anything out."

James Woods scored Oscar nominations for his roles in "Ghosts of Mississippi" and "Salvador." Other credits include "Nixon," "Casino," "Any Given Sunday" and the CBS legal drama "Shark." He is suing along with his nephew Peyton, Michael's teenage son.

Testimony begins Tuesday in Kent County Superior Court. The trial is expected to last about a month.

Michael Woods, a businessman who lived in Warwick, was also an actor who appeared in several of his brother's movies and ran twice unsuccessfully for mayor of the city, which is several miles south of Providence.

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