SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Officials at St. John's Hospital in Springfield are disputing a fire department report that an Arkansas woman died of injuries she suffered in a fire in her hospital room.
The Springfield Fire Department announced this week that 64-year-old Eileen Moorehouse of Eureka Springs, Ark., died Tuesday from injuries caused by a Feb. 6 fire in her room, noting she was smoking while on oxygen.
But St. John's spokeswoman Cora Scott said Moorehouse's burn were not life-threatening, and she died from terminal lung cancer.
Tom VanDeBerg, deputy medical examiner for Greene County, told The Springfield News-Leader that no autopsy was performed and a cause of death has not been determined.
St. John's does not allow smoking and it's unclear how Moorehouse got the cigarettes.