Urine Trouble: Lawsuit Claims Florida Hospital Served Urine Instead of Soup

A Palm Beach County man is pissed about an alleged food service mix-up that left him "both shocked and sickened" at his father's bedside in a Florida hospital, according to a newly filed lawsuit.

In the lawsuit against West Boca Medical Center, Ronald Tompkins Jr. claims he got a sour surprise when he unwittingly took a sip of a stranger’s urine, which one of the hospital's food service employees had served instead of a bowl of soup.

The lawsuit demands damages for gross negligence in Palm Beach County Circuit Court. Tompkins Jr. claims he "suffered emotional distress and mental anguish" and required medical treatment after the incident.

As Tompkins Jr. was visiting his father at West Boca Medical Center last September, the hospital employee came to serve a food tray next to the father's bed. Tompkins Jr. took a sip of what the employee called "bouillon" to ensure the temperature was not too hot for his dad, according to the complaint.

Tompkins Jr. says he immediately realized the frothy liquid was not soup.

"Tompkins spit out the urine and was both shocked and sickened," the lawsuit alleges. "No explanation for why a cup of urine was present or placed on the inpatient Ronald Tompkins Sr.'s food tray was given."

The younger Tompkins claims the urine was not his father's, though the complaint does not make it clear how he came to that conclusion.

"West Boca Medical Center was negligent by way of allowing its employees to handle both food service delivery and urine/bodily fluids," the lawsuit (attached below) states.

Tompkins Jr. is the sole plaintiff in the case. He's represented by attorney Dan Moses in Boca Raton.

Part of the Palm Beach Health Network, West Boca Medical Center has been operating for 40 years and has 195 beds. The hospital has not responded to New Times' request for comment.