Manuela Gomez Ruiz, 74, was transferred out of the main trauma
room at the Marian Medical Centre in Santa Maria, California, when
Jackson was rushed in
suffering from "flu-like symptoms" last
week.
Her family claims she was taken off a machine ventilator and her
breathing was instead assisted manually by a handpump.
Mrs Ruiz was
being treated after having a heart attack but suffered two more that
day before she died.
Her daughter-in-law, Anna Ruiz, told ABC News she saw Jackson
come into the emergency unit.
"He walked in," she said. "When I saw him, he was walking
unassisted."
Mrs Ruiz's daughter Maria Elena Ortiz was also in the hospital
and objected when her mother was moved.
"Why does she have to be moved if he's coming in for a stomach
flu?" she said.
"I said, 'My mother just had a heart attack and I think it's more
critical than a stomach flu'. They didn't say anything."
The family claims the chaos caused by Jackson's arrival
distracted staff. They said equipment had to be crammed into the
smaller room and they were limited to two visitors at a time.
Those visitors could not then leave because the hospital
restricted movement in the corridors when Jackson arrived, the
family claims.
Relatives allege that the hospital's policy "needs to be changed"
if a patient with flu can take precedence over someone with a heart
attack. They have hired a lawyer to sue the hospital and the star.
Jackson's publicist Raymone Bain issued a statement saying:
"Michael Jackson sends his condolences to the family of the
deceased.
"However, it is outrageous that Michael Jackson's name would be
invoked into a situation of which he had no authority or control. It
appears that ABC is deliberate in its attempt to circumvent Michael
Jackson from receiving a fair trial."
Jury selection in Jackson's child molestation trial was delayed
while the singer recovered from the flu. Opening arguments are
scheduled to begin in the Santa Maria court on Monday.
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