A father is suing a hospital, alleging employees posted 'gratuitous' photos of his dying teen son on Instagram

• Hospital workers put photos on Instagram of a motorcycle-crash victim who later died, per a lawsuit.
• The teen's father, Jose Fabian Lopez, is now suing the hospital and two employees for damages.

After an 18-year-old was airlifted to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital in Miami on May 28 last year, he lay unconscious for several weeks.

Jose Lopez Canizares had been struck by a car while riding his motorcycle, a crash that would prove fatal.

A new lawsuit has accused hospital staff of taking photos of his catastrophic injuries and posting them to Instagram while the teenager fought for his life.

The teen's father, Jose Fabian Lopez, is suing the hospital, the group that runs it, and two employees, according to a complaint filed in Miami-Dade County.

The complaint included a letter from the hospital acknowledging that an image had been posted and said that the employee had been "appropriately sanctioned."

Lopez accused the hospital of several counts, including invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and is seeking damages in excess of $30,000

"I think it's egregious what they did," Robert C. Solomon, an attorney from Saban & Solomon Solicitors who is representing the father, told Insider. "I think that the level of breach of trust in this case is as bad as it gets."

The complaint accused a hospital worker of taking three unauthorized and "gratuitous" photos of Canizares while he was undergoing treatment in the trauma bay.

The complaint said that about 20 hospital employees, including nurses, technicians, and doctors, watched while the photos were taken and no one intervened.

The hospital worker shared the photos with his colleagues and his Instagram followers, the complaint continued. The lawsuit also accused the worker of posting another photo of the victim while he was in the operating room to Instagram and tagging a fellow employee.

That employee, who was also named as a defendant, reposted the photo to his Instagram feed, which had more than 3,000 followers, and added emojis to the caption, according to the complaint.

"Your son is in a traumatic motorcycle accident, the last thing you're thinking is they're going to take pictures of him like he's on display," Solomon said.

He added, "I mean, why are you guys taking pictures instead of doing what you need to do to save this kid's life?"

Lopez was told about the posts by a hospital employee a few days before taking his son off life support, the complaint said.

Lopez died on June 23 last year, but the plaintiffs alleged in the complaint that the hospital knew about the posts about three weeks before — as early as June 1, 2022.

"I think they purposely sat on the information," Solomon said. "There's no excuse, they had the information and they should have told his family immediately."

The complaint said that Lopez struggled to sleep, eat, and focus on work because of the photos.

The hospital attempted to have the lawsuit dismissed, arguing that any breach of privacy affected the son and not the father, but the presiding judge dismissed only a negligence count, the Miami New Times reported.

Solomon told Insider there was enough evidence to proceed with the case. "We have enough right now to move forward and get this case in front of the jury," he said.

HCA Florida Kendall Hospital did not respond to a request for comment.