Judge Orders More Testimony : ‘Wife’ in Bedside Case Wins a Round

Gloria Barron’s claims were ignored by nurses at two hospitals, rejected by an arbitrator and questioned by three judges.

She had insisted that she, and not two other “postors,” as the wife of Thomas Barron as he lay dying after a massive heart attack in 1984.

In an unusual move in the bizarre case, Barron will get one last chance to prove she was mistreated because two hospitals excluded her from his bedside.

Orange County Superior Judge Robert C. Todd has asked for more discussion of Barron’s legal rights and additional testimony on the treatment she received from employes at Anaheim Memorial Hospital and Humana Hospital West Anaheim.

Not Legally Married

Todd heard four days of testimony before tentatively deciding on Feb. 19 that Gloria, who was not legally married to Thomas Barron although she thought she was, had no basis for her lawsuit.

Lawyers for both hospitals claimed that their staffs focused on trying to save Thomas Barron’s life, and took reasonable steps to sort out the visiting privileges of friends and relatives.

In a letter, Todd stated that Edi Faal, Barron’s lawyer, had offered a “persuasive” argument that Gloria did have rights.

Todd said he had decided that Gloria had in good faith entered into a “matrimonial union solemnized in due form” in Las Vegas in 1981. Unknown to her, the marriage was invalid because Thomas Barron’s divorce from a previous marriage had not become final.

Gloria was legally the “putative” spouse, and does have the right to sue, Todd wrote.

Faal said he was pleased with Todd’s decision to reopen the case. People in his client’s position have enjoyed an increasing number of rights under state law, Faal said.

Son in Charge

The judge asked for further testimony on whether the hospital’s decision to appoint David Barron, Thomas’ son, to sort out the family chaos was reasonable and justified.

Anaheim Memorial Hospital attorney Stephen R. Odell said he expected that less than a day of new testimony will be needed to demonstrate that the hospital did nothing wrong. Hospital protocol calls for appointing one family member to decide visiting schedules, and Gloria Barron failed to object to the son’s selection, Odell said.

Odell said an arbitrator who tried to settle the case before trial ruled in the hospitals’ favor, as did two judges who later mediated the case.

“We’ve convinced four independent judges that we were right, we’ve won it four times,’ Odell said Friday. “Now we have to win it a fifth time.”