Taylor Goodridge (Image via ABC4 screengrab)
A 17-year-old girl who died last December at a “therapeutic boarding school” for troubled teens in Utah after experiencing “extreme pain” for days had a treatable abdominal infection, an autopsy performed by the state reportedly concluded. The revelation that Taylor Goodridge had peritonitis, Amberlynn Wigtion and Dean Goodridge told ABC4, shows that their daughter’s death at Diamond Ranch Academy was “entirely preventable” and that Taylor would be alive today if she received the treatment she begged for.
The autopsy results emerged as the parents continue their federal lawsuit against Diamond Ranch Academy on claims of false imprisonment, premises liability, innkeeper liability, child abuse, negligence/knowing and reckless indifference, and breach of fiduciary duty.
In the complaint filed on Dec. 30, 2022, Taylor Goodridge was identified as a Washington State resident staying at the boarding school in Hurricane, Utah. Diamond Ranch Academy filed a motion to dismiss the case on March 10, just under a month after the plaintiff family amended their complaint to add a John Doe as a defendant. A proposed second amended complaint specifies that the John Doe defendant is Big Springs Properties, the owner of the property where Diamond Ranch Academy (DRA) is located.
“DRA promises parents that students will be allowed to ensure for their basic health needs, such as requesting appointments with on and offsite providers, addressing medical concerns with professionals and that the medical staff would attend to their needs onsite as if they were in their family medical practice,” the lawsuit said. “Given these representations and promises, Plaintiff’s minor daughter, Taylor Goodridge, was matriculated into the DRA program, removed from her home in the State of Washington, and was physically placed into the DRA program where she became a resident for several months.”
“Unbeknownst to Plaintiffs, despite DRA’s assurances, representations and promises, children that become ill at DRA are often ignored or told that they are faking their illnesses,” the lawsuit added. “Many claim that they are given aspirin and water and told to ‘suck it up.””
The litigation claimed that Taylor was also told to “suck it up” before she died. Plaintiffs allege that their volleyball athlete and cheerleader daughter began experiencing severe abdominal pain in December.
“On December 6, 2022, Taylor’s scheduled Zoom call with her parents was cancelled by DRA based upon alleged behavioral issues,” the lawsuit said.
A week later, Taylor was vomiting — and this continued for days, the lawsuit said.
“The pain became so excruciating that Taylor was begging the DRA staff for help,” the civil case alleged. “At one point in time, Taylor collapsed in her vomit.”
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The day Taylor died, Dec. 20, she was allegedly forced to shower and go to breakfast rather than being given emergency medical attention.
“DRA called her father and told him that Taylor had suffered a heart attack and was taken to the hospital,” the suit said. “DRA then called her father and told him she had perished at the hospital from a heart attack.”
Plaintiffs claim that the Diamond Ranch Academy’s false imprisonment of Taylor directly and proximately caused “severe physical pain, discomfort, loss of enjoyment of life, and death.”
U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Kohler on April 17 ordered the second amended complaint filed within the next 14 days; Senior U.S. District Judge Paul Nuffer was assigned the case.
Defendants’ motion to dismiss argued that the Goodridge plaintiffs’ complaint lacks subject matter jurisdiction and that multiple alleged counts failed to state a claim. Particularly, defendants said that the lawsuit improperly commenced before plaintiffs filed claims under the Utah Health Care Malpractice Act “to a non-binding prelitigation hearing through the Division of Professional Licensing.”
“Goodridge has yet to participate in this non-binding prelitigation hearing, and thus, this Court presently lacks subject matter jurisdiction over the matter,” the motion to dismiss said. “Accordingly, this Court should dismiss Goodridge’s Complaint pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1), or in the alternative, this Court should stay all litigation until Goodridge has complied with all pre-litigation administrative requirements.”
“The underlying facts giving rise to Goodridge’s claim clearly demonstrate the subject litigation is a wrongful death action arising from medical malpractice,” defendants added. “Despite this, Goodridge has creatively asserted multiple causes of action that are either not cognizable in civil litigation or that do not apply based on the facts asserted.”
The aforementioned second amended complaint noted that the plaintiffs are, in fact, “in the process of complying with Utah Code […] in order to bring an action against Diamond Ranch Academy pursuant to the Utah Health Care Malpractice Act and the complaint will be amended once that process is complied with.”
Plaintiffs responded that this lawsuit is not so much a medical malpractice case — but a case in which there was no medical aid rendered “at all”:
Plaintiff’s theory of the case, which DRA acknowledges, is that DRA “failed to render appropriate care and treatment to Taylor.” The fact that this case involves a failure to render health care cannot be overlooked. The Court cannot simply assume, as DRA does, that because Taylor sought treatment, she received health care. Indeed, like the plaintiff in Shell, who sought medical treatment for a mental health crisis, Taylor sought medical treatment for vomiting and other symptoms. And like the plaintiff in Shell, who was refused health care because he would not take a sedative, Taylor was accused of “faking it” and told to “suck it up.” In Shell, the health care provider at least made a conditional offer of medical treatment. Here, DRA refused to provide any health care at all. Even if Taylor sought medical assistance, “no medical care ensued.”
In closing, the plaintiffs asserted that Taylor Goodridge’s “injuries and untimely death were a direct result of DRA’s refusal to provide health care when it was requested.”
Utah Department of Health & Human Services records note that the institution currently has a conditional license, meaning the “provider is at risk of losing their license because compliance with licensing rules has not been maintained.”
“The provider was out of compliance with this rule by failing to provide and seek necessary medical care for an ill client who died several weeks after initial onset of symptoms,” said one finding. “During on and off site inspections, investigators conducted multiple interviews and reviewed program documentation. This information substantiated that the provider was aware a client was ill and did not take them to the emergency room or to receive further medical care and evaluation.”
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