Court Records Show Who Signed Do Not Resuscitate Order in Death Case

ORANGE PARK, FL -- A single piece of paper is causing confusion in a court battle. It is a Do Not Resuscitate order, or DNR, for Hector Soto-Velez.

The 82-year-old grandfather, known as Papi, died Christmas Day, 2005, at the Orange Park Medical Center.

His family says Papi was just allowed to slip away. "The records indicate Mr. Soto-Velez was simply allowed to slowly stop breathing over a period of hours," Sean Cronin told First Coast News in November, 2006, when he announced he would be suing the hospital on behalf of the family.

The family says it knew nothing about the DNR and they did not sign one.

According to new court records obtained by First Coast News, we now have a better idea of whose signatures are on the document.

There are four signatures. Two of them are listed as witnesses. One is a nurse, the other is a hospital staffer.

There is also a Jimmy Soto signature, listed as Papi's son, except Soto says he didn't sign it. A handwriting expert agrees. "Myself seeing that signature there, that really tore me to pieces. I did not at any given moment consent, sign or authorize the DNR form."

And then there is another signature. It is on the line to be signed either by the patient or the patient's proxy, the person who has legal authority to make decisions.

In this case, the proxy was Papi's wife, but we now know the name on that line does not belong to her.

According to court records, Papi's doctor, Murshid Al-Awady, admits it is his.

When asked, in a deposition why he signed on that line, he said, "It was just misplaced. It didn't have any place for me to sign it and I -- I just signed it. I just don't remember why I signed there, but I signed it."

The doctor then testified he was aware that Papi's wife was the proxy and she had signed other documents for the care of her husband.

The doctor testified, "I believe I did everything right." He also said he complied with every aspect of the DNR.

The family's attorney has found another problem with the DNR. On the top of the document are boxes to check whether the form is a DNR or a limited DNR.

Neither box is checked on Papi's form. The document notes that if the boxes are empty, the document should be disregarded.

Orange Park Medical could not comment about the case because it is going to trial in October.

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