State settles in deaths of University of Iowa patients, Des Moines police dog

Six years after a 10-year-old University of Iowa hospital patient died, and a year before a related lawsuit was set for trial, the state agreed Tuesday to pay a Cedar Rapids couple $850,000 to settle the case — ending a long battle that went to the Iowa Supreme Court.

The settlement with Alexandria and Terry Anderson was among several the State Appeal Board approved — along with several tort claims, before they could be filed as lawsuits, including one involving the 2023 death of a Des Moines Police Department canine named Hobbs.

Anderson settlement

The Andersons’ case started as a tort claim in May 2020 — although the state did not initially pursue a settlement — advancing to a lawsuit in January 2021.

Nearly three years earlier, the couple’s 10-year-old son, Carter Anderson, was admitted to the UI Hospitals and Clinics because his feeding tube had become dislodged, according to the lawsuit.

UIHC employees replaced the tube, and Carter went home. The next day, his parents found him unresponsive and rushed him by ambulance to the Mercy Medical Center emergency room, where he died, according to the lawsuit.

The family asserted Carter died because UIHC employees the day before erroneously placed his feeding tube in the “peritoneal cavity rather than the stomach as it was supposed to be,” according to the lawsuit.

“Proper placement of the feeding tube into the stomach was not verified by the UIHC providers,” according to the lawsuit. “(Carter’s) death was caused due to the feeding tube directing formula into the peritoneal cavity, which caused an acute and fatal reaction that was the cause of death.”

In defending itself, the state — on behalf of UIHC — focused on procedural issues, accusing the parents of failing to present “proper administrative tort claims” and exhaust all administrative remedies before filing their lawsuit.

Chief among the issues was that Alexandria Anderson filed the administrative tort claim on behalf of the child’s estate 21 days before being officially appointed administrator of his estate. A district court agreed with the state’s argument and in January 2022 dismissed the case — finding, among other things, the couple had not exhausted its administrative options and erred procedurally in pursuing their lawsuit.

The couple appealed, and in March the Iowa Supreme Court reversed and remanded part of the suit.

“We conclude the district court erred,” according to the opinion. “The answer depends on principles of estate law. And the law of estates recognizes that, when a person dies, a representative may act to protect the estate’s interests even before the representative is appointed.”

Generally speaking, according to the court, the state can be liable to an estate — even before an administrator is appointed.

“Although Alexandria filed the tort claims before she was appointed, the court did later appoint her,” according to the opinion. “Alexandria then ratified the tort claims by continuing to pursue them before the State Appeal Board and, later, by pursuing this suit.”

The case had been reset for a jury trial in January 2026 before the $850,000 settlement was approved Tuesday — which will be paid fully by UI Health Care.

Other settlements

Hobbs — a 4-year-old German shepherd who joined the Des Moines Police Department in June 2020 and participated in felony arrests, drug detection and finding firearms — died in December 2023 “due to an acknowledged medical error during surgery performed by veterinarians and a veterinary student” in the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine, according to tort claim documents.

“After reviewing the pathology reports, Dr. Allison Kenzig reported to DMPD that the medical error caused K-9 Hobbs to go septic and die,” according to the records. “The error caused a loss for the DMPD, as they needed to replace the K-9.”

The state — to cover the cost of buying, training, socializing and immunizing a new dog — has agreed to pay the department $43,097.

Another tort claim approved Tuesday has UIHC paying $860,000 to the family of a patient who died following a “significant brain hemorrhage” he suffered while being wheeled out of the hospital earlier this year.

Documents indicate Jonathan Reeck fell from his wheelchair in January while a staff member was transporting him for discharge. Suffering a brain hemorrhage from that incident, the family opted for “palliative care,” and Reeck died Jan. 23 at age 44.

“UIHC admits they did not secure Mr. Reeck in his wheelchair before discharge when they should have,” according to tort claim documents.

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