A tragic incident in Connecticut has resulted in a lawsuit after a 26-year-old dental student passed away under the care of a remote “tele-health” physician. The doctor reportedly declared the student dead via video, allegedly failing to adequately address his medical requirements. This lawsuit has been filed by the family of Conor Hylton.

Conor Hylton’s parents have taken legal action against Yale New Haven Health, the organization responsible for the Bridgeport Hospital Milford Campus, where their son died in 2024. The lawsuit also targets Northeast Medical Group, another entity within Yale New Haven Health, accusing both of negligence that they claim contributed to their son’s untimely death.

According to the family’s legal filing, obtained by Law & Crime, the intensive care unit and its staff did not adhere to hospital policy. The complaint states that no on-site physician evaluated Mr. Hylton from the time of his ICU admission until after he showed seizure-like symptoms.

The lawsuit details that Hylton was initially brought to the emergency department on August 14, 2024. He was then admitted to the hospital with several diagnoses, including pancreatitis, dehydration, metabolic acidosis, and alcohol withdrawal.

“Mr. Hylton’s condition worsened, leading to his transfer to the ICU,” the complaint outlines, noting that his health continued to decline throughout the night and early morning of August 15, 2024. Symptoms included changes in mental status, restlessness, and agitation, despite the administration of Precedex.

In the ICU, the hospital reportedly employed a “tele-ICU” service. The complaint emphasizes that no “ICU intensivists” were physically present at the facility during this critical period.

“Instead, the hospitalist, in this case … never saw the patient,” the complaint alleges. “It also appears from the sparse ICU records that the ICU RN was only contacting the tele-ICU service for sedation orders as Mr. Hylton’s condition deteriorated in the ICU, and despite orders, there are no CIWA assessments, no intake/output monitoring, and no MD assessments for pain and/or change in mental status despite the RN’s non-contemporaneous note indicating mental status change in a patient diagnosed with alcohol withdrawal and a history of alcohol withdrawal seizures for which he had previously been given Keppra.”

Hylton, who was admitted around 11 a.m., became unresponsive early the next morning around 4:30 a.m., the complaint says.

“Mr. Hylton slid down in bed, his eyes rolled back and he … exhibited seizure-like activity, vomited, became bradycardic and code was called,” the complaint alleges. “He was intubated, but he could not be resuscitated, and he was pronounced dead.”

According to Hylton’s parents, “the pronouncement was done by a ‘tele-health’ provider on a video screen.” The family wasn’t even notified about what was going on or Hylton’s deteriorating health status, their complaint adds.

“[The defendants] allowed for extremely poor communication among the providers responsible for Conor’s life which is especially dangerous to patient care when the hospital is relying on off-site tele-ICU providers to care for its patients,” the complaint concludes.

His parents’ attorney, Joel Faxon, told CT Insider that Hylton was treated at what he considers to be a “fake ICU,” per the local media outlet.

“It’s not real because no patient would ever consent if they told … they’re not going to have a doctor in here,” Faxon said. “They’re going to be on the tube.”

Faxon calls what happened to Hylton “a tragedy that definitely could have been avoided,” according to CT Insider. “The family is absolutely devastated,” Faxon said. “He was a good kid. He was a very good student. He was at UConn Dental School and parents are both dentists.”

The family’s lawsuit comes after a July 2025 investigation from the Connecticut Department of Public Health found that the “hospital failed to ensure quality medical care was provided” to Hylton, according to the complaint.

The agency determined that hospital staff “failed to ensure nursing assessments were conducted in accordance with the physician’s order” and “failed to effectively communicate the patient’s needs as documented,” per the complaint.

A Bridgeport Hospital spokesperson told the local Hartford Courant newspaper, “Yale New Haven Health is aware of this lawsuit and is committed to providing the safest and highest quality of care possible, however, we are unable to comment on pending litigation.”

Asked whether Yale New Haven uses the services of tele-health professionals in its hospitals and ICUs, the spokesperson reportedly said the model “enhances critically ill patients by pairing advanced virtual monitoring with expert bedside teams.”

“A dedicated virtual team collaborates closely with on‑site nurses, physicians and ICU intensivists to provide continuous monitoring, timely decisions and coordinated, high‑quality care throughout the ICU stay,” the spokesperson told the Courant.