A Florida mother is demanding answers after her 49-year-old daughter died just hours after being discharged from Cleveland Clinic Martin North Hospital following emergency gallbladder surgery, despite medical records showing several troubling findings before she left.
WPTV investigative reporter Kate Hussey examined the case of Dawn Miller, who was admitted to the Stuart-area hospital on Feb. 24, 2024, with abdominal pain and underwent surgery the following day.
Dawn’s mother, Beth Miller, said her daughter seemed desperately unwell before discharge and repeatedly told hospital staff she did not feel ready to go home.
“She went in for gallbladder surgery, and she died four days later,” Beth told Hussey.
Dawn died two days before her 50th birthday.
Records Show Severe Complications Before Discharge
Hussey reported that pathology performed after Dawn’s surgery confirmed gangrenous cholecystitis, a severe and potentially life-threatening gallbladder condition.
The initial postoperative report said Dawn tolerated the procedure well, returned to recovery in stable condition, and was alert and without fever.
But her medical records later began showing more serious concerns.
On Feb. 26, Dawn’s hemoglobin level dropped.
The following afternoon, a hospital employee sent a formal query asking her doctor to confirm whether Dawn had severe sepsis, described in the report as a dangerous reaction to infection in which the body begins damaging its own tissues.
About an hour and 15 minutes later, the response was returned with “severe sepsis with acute lactic acidosis, present on admission” checked, and the record said her doctor ordered antibiotics to continue.
Later that day, another hospital note said Dawn’s hemoglobin was even lower and that she had become pale, short of breath and symptomatic.
Within about half an hour, a nurse documented that Dawn would be discharged and that her vital signs were stable.
Another nursing note roughly 90 minutes later, however, said Dawn refused discharge because she felt weak and was not ready to leave.
That sequence is one of the most troubling parts of the case because the records show both an active discussion of serious complications and a discharge process moving ahead at nearly the same time.
Beth Says Her Daughter Was Delirious Overnight
Beth told Hussey that Dawn called her Tuesday night and sounded so confused that she could barely understand what she was saying.
Her husband drove her to the hospital, where Beth stayed through the night.
“She was up all night screaming, ‘I’m not gonna die tonight,’” Beth said. “She was soaking wet. She was burning up.”
Hospital records show Dawn refused an antibiotic overnight and underwent additional bloodwork.
At 8:56 a.m. the next morning, Feb. 28, another hospital note said she again refused to leave.
According to the record, she later agreed to discharge after speaking with a nurse.
Her discharge was officially processed at 9:16 a.m.
Beth said the collapse came almost immediately after they got home.
“I couldn’t get her up,” she said. “I finally got her on her knees. I got her to crawl into the house, and she belly flopped onto the sofa.”
Dawn Went Into Cardiac Arrest At Home
A nursing note cited by Hussey said Beth watched her daughter go into cardiac arrest and immediately began CPR.
Beth described the moment as complete panic.
She called 911 and was instructed to move Dawn to the floor and begin chest compressions.
“I just felt so helpless,” she said. “You’re staring at your daughter trying to do CPR, and nothing’s happening.”
Beth said Dawn was dead within about 10 or 15 minutes.
By 10:40 a.m., emergency records showed Dawn was back at Cleveland Clinic Martin North without a pulse.
Hospital staff began chest compressions, but she was pronounced dead at 11:11 a.m.
The sudden timing is difficult to ignore: Dawn had been discharged less than two hours earlier.
Still, Hussey was careful to note that the investigation could not establish with certainty what caused Dawn’s death or whether she would have survived if she had remained hospitalized.
A Forensic Pathologist Calls The Bloodwork A “Red Flag”
Hussey sent Dawn’s medical records to Dr. Gerald Feigin, a forensic pathologist and former medical examiner in New Jersey who said he has performed more than 25,000 autopsies over a career spanning more than 40 years.
Feigin strongly disagreed with a post-death clinical note in which Dawn’s attending physician wrote that her chemistries were normal.
“No. Absolutely not, because they’re not normal,” Feigin said.
He pointed to bloodwork taken about five hours before Dawn’s discharge, where at least eight components were marked either high or low.
A basic metabolic panel was also marked abnormal, and Feigin said the results suggested poor kidney function.
“Her kidney function went right down, so it was not good,” he said.
His biggest concern, however, was Dawn’s falling hemoglobin.
Although she received a blood transfusion before discharge, her hemoglobin had risen only to 8.2 by the next morning.
Feigin called that a glaring warning sign.
“People are weak after surgery, but the hemoglobin dropping that rapidly, that’s a red flag,” he said.
Asked whether Dawn should have been discharged, Feigin did not hesitate.
“No. Absolutely not,” he said. “When somebody’s losing hemoglobin that rapidly, you better figure out why.”
Beth Asked For An Autopsy But Never Got One
After Dawn was pronounced dead, Beth said she immediately demanded an autopsy.
Hospital records back up that account.
Two nurses documented that Beth wanted an autopsy before her daughter’s body was sent to the morgue.
Hours later, however, a nurse manager wrote that the medical examiner had released the body and was not requiring one.
The note said Beth remained adamant but was told the hospital could not make that decision, and that her request would be documented along with the fact that she could not pay.
“She never got an autopsy,” Beth said.
Records also showed that by 12:30 p.m., hospital staff had already contacted LifeLink Tissue Bank in Tampa.
By that evening, Dawn’s body had been removed from the hospital for off-site tissue donation, with documentation saying it would not return.
Beth said she could not believe what happened.
“There was no autopsy. There was nothing,” she said.
Feigin said the lack of an autopsy makes it impossible to know with certainty what triggered the cardiac arrest.
When Hussey asked whether the arrest could have been connected to the complications shown in Dawn’s records, Feigin said it was possible.
“Absolutely. But that’s why you do an autopsy,” he said.
Hospital And Doctors Declined To Answer Questions
Hussey contacted Cleveland Clinic seeking an explanation.
The hospital said it could not discuss Dawn’s case because of patient privacy laws.
Hussey then asked broader questions about discharge policies and when an autopsy should be performed, as well as asking the hospital to respond to Feigin’s concerns.
The hospital again declined to answer.
Hussey also contacted Dawn’s treating physicians, including the doctor who discharged her, her attending physician and the emergency doctor who reviewed her records after her death.
None responded to requests for interviews.
Records from the Florida Department of Health showed no public complaints or disciplinary actions against the doctors involved, while records from the Agency for Health Care Administration showed no disciplinary action against the hospital.
Those facts are important because the available records raise serious questions, but they do not amount to a formal finding that medical malpractice occurred.
Beth Says She May Never Get The Answer She Wants
More than two years later, Beth is still trying to understand what happened.
She told Hussey that the image of her daughter collapsing at home remains with her constantly.
“It’s on your mind 24/7,” she said. “I see her laying on that floor all the time.”
The lack of an autopsy has made that grief harder because there is no final medical explanation for why Dawn deteriorated so quickly after discharge.
Feigin said that, in his view, an autopsy should have been performed.
“The hospital should’ve done an autopsy, plain and simple,” he said.
Hussey also noted that even if Beth eventually obtained clearer answers, Florida law could limit her ability to pursue a wrongful-death claim because of restrictions sometimes referred to as the state’s “Free Kill” law.
For Beth, however, the immediate issue is more basic than litigation.
She wants to know why her daughter, after surgery, possible severe sepsis, abnormal bloodwork, falling hemoglobin, weakness and repeated objections to leaving, was discharged only to collapse within minutes of reaching home.
Without an autopsy, she may never know exactly what killed Dawn.
And that unanswered question is what Beth says she will carry with her for the rest of her life.
Ed spent his childhood in the backwoods of Maine, where harsh winters taught him the value of survival skills. With a background in bushcraft and off-grid living, Ed has honed his expertise in fire-making, hunting, and wild foraging. He writes from personal experience, sharing practical tips and hands-on techniques to thrive in any outdoor environment. Whether it’s primitive camping or full-scale survival, Ed’s advice is grounded in real-life challenges.
