Acre State to Pay R$80,000 in Damages for Patient's Death After Hospital Ceiling Collapse

The Acre State Court has upheld a prior ruling holding the state responsible for the death of 33-year-old Izailton Gadelha da Silva. Mr. Silva died in September 2022 after a hospital ceiling section collapsed onto his bed at the Hospital João Câncio Fernandes in Sena Madureira. The court confirmed the state's civil liability but reduced the compensation awarded to his parents from R$100,000 to R$80,000. Mr. Silva, who was tetraplegic, was receiving treatment in the Intensive Care Unit when the incident occurred. He was transferred to Rio Branco for further evaluation and treatment, including intubation, but succumbed to severe injuries from the ceiling collapse, specifically cranial trauma and pulmonary contusion, leading to cardiorespiratory arrest. The court's decision emphasized that the hospital's unsafe conditions, as indicated by a fire department report five days after the accident, made the state accountable for the foreseeable outcome. The state's arguments of attempted patient relocation and external factors were dismissed by the court due to a lack of concrete evidence. The reduction in damages was based on the court's assessment of proportionality and reasonableness compared to its own established parameters for moral damages.