Overview
- The civil suit names The Oxford Center, CEO Tamela Peterson, three staffers, Sechrist Industries, the Oxford Kids Foundation, and the property owner, seeking more than $100 million in damages.
- Plaintiffs allege the chamber lacked fire suppression, deluge and automatic detection systems, offered no effective emergency extraction, and provided inadequate warnings about fire and electrical hazards.
- At preliminary hearings last week, a hyperbaric safety expert testified a static discharge likely ignited the blaze and that a required patient grounding strap was not used.
- Four former Oxford Center employees face criminal charges tied to the death, including second-degree murder counts for Peterson, safety manager Jeffrey Mosteller, and manager Gary Marken; operator Aleta Moffitt is charged with involuntary manslaughter, and all have pleaded not guilty.
- Context from regulators notes the FDA recognizes hyperbaric oxygen therapy for limited conditions and the clinic was not accredited by the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, as Michigan’s attorney general criticized the facility’s aging equipment and safety practices.