Latest news with #OxfordCenter
CBS News
28-05-2025
- General
- CBS News
Watch Live: 4 charged in Michigan boy's death in hyperbaric chamber explosion appear in court
The four people charged in connection with the death of a 5-year-old boy who was killed in a hyperbaric chamber explosion in Troy, Michigan, are appearing in court Wednesday morning for a probable cause conference. Tami Peterson, 58, of Brighton, the CEO and founder of the Oxford Center, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Thomas Cooper, who was killed on Jan. 31, 2025, when a hyperbaric chamber he was inside of exploded. Jeff Mosteller, 64, of Clinton Township, the center's safety director, and Gary Marken, 65, of Spring Arbor, the primary management assistant, are also charged with second-degree murder. Aleta Moffitt, 60, of Rochester Hills, was charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter and one count of intentionally placing false information on a medical record as a medical provider. Moffitt was the operator of the hyperbaric chamber at the time of the boy's death. A probable cause conference is scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday. —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— How to watch Wednesday's court proceedings What: Probable cause conference for four people charged in deadly hyperbaric explosion. Probable cause conference for four people charged in deadly hyperbaric explosion. Date: Wednesday, May 28, 2025 Wednesday, May 28, 2025 Time: 11 a.m. ET 11 a.m. ET Online stream: Live on the player above and on your mobile or streaming device —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel in March charged the four in connection with the boy's death.
USA Today
17-03-2025
- Health
- USA Today
'Watershed moment': Experts call for hyperbaric chamber regulations after child's death
'Watershed moment': Experts call for hyperbaric chamber regulations after child's death Show Caption Hide Caption Hyperbaric chamber explosion: Ex-Oxford Center workers talk about explosion that killed boy Candace McDonald and Taylor TyleTye both worked at the Oxford Center in Troy, quitting over safety concerns. Fox - 2 Detroit DETROIT – The death of a 5-year-old boy in Michigan has prompted industry leaders to call for regulation of medical spas and wellness centers that offer hyperbaric oxygen therapy for treatments not authorized by the FDA. Thomas Cooper was in the midst of his 36th hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatment when the pressurized chamber burst into flames on Jan. 31 at the Oxford Center, an alternative medicine facility in the Detroit suburb of Troy. The child died within seconds after what appeared to be static electricity sparked a "fireball," Troy police said in court documents obtained by the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. Thomas was being treated for ADHD and sleep apnea, said his family's attorney, James Harrington, managing partner at Fieger Law. Neither of those conditions is among those the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says are authorized for treatment using hyperbaric oxygen therapy. John Peters, executive director of the Undersea & Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS), said the incident highlights failure at nearly every level of government to regulate an industry that too often preys on vulnerable people desperate to find alternative treatments for conditions they haven't been able to relieve with conventional medicine. Peters, who leads the international nonprofit association that provides accreditation for hyperbaric oxygen therapy programs, said the lack of oversight and regulations to ensure that hospitals, health centers, and medical spas adhere to safety standards is "atrocious." "This is a watershed moment," he said. "This is an inflection point for everybody: that's government, that's payers, that's regulators, that's the physicians, patients, nurses. Are we going to continue to repeat history and not accept accountability and not do what's right and not be transparent? If we do, then the next time somebody dies in an event like this, we're saying 'It's OK.'" 'Where's the oversight?': After fire kills 5-year-old boy, lawyer questions oversight of hyperbaric oxygen chambers No laws in Michigan require oversight of hyperbaric chambers Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, in her public comments on the tragedy, laid out a loosely knit web of licensing requirements and accreditation recommendations for the use of hyperbaric oxygen chambers in the state. Peters described them as being rife with holes, "like Swiss cheese," that creates a dangerous situation for consumers. 'Michigan law doesn't require any oversight over the use of hyperbaric chambers," Nessel said Tuesday, when she also announced the criminal charges against Oxford Center CEO Tamela Peterson, 58, and three other employees in the child's death. All have pleaded not guilty. Nessel said her office doesn't have the authority to inspect all the facilities that provide hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the state to ensure they are safely in operation. Nessel can only inspect when there is enough probable cause "that there are crimes being committed involving hyperbaric chambers." The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs "does not have the capability to do that, either, because (hyperbaric oxygen chambers) are not licensed within the state," Nessel added. She urged all Michiganders to "exercise caution before engaging in any unapproved therapies. ... Hyperbaric chambers are not an approved therapy for ADHD, but the Oxford Center boasted over 100 diagnoses that (hyperbaric therapy) could help with," she said. The FDA regulates the oxygen used in hyperbaric oxygen therapy. It also authorizes the use of hyperbaric oxygen chambers as medical devices to treat the following specific conditions: Decompression sickness Severe anemia when blood transfusions can't be used Severe and large burns Carbon monoxide poisoning Crush injuries Air and gas bubbles in blood vessels Gas gangrene Hearing loss that occurs suddenly and without a known cause Radiation injuries Severe infections of the skin and bone Radiation injury Skin graft flap at risk of tissue death Vision loss when it is sudden and painless in one eye due to the blockage of blood flow Nonhealing wounds such as diabetic foot ulcers. Peters said the FDA should stop alternative healing centers, medical spas, and wellness facilities from using these devices to treat conditions not on that list, as the Oxford Center did. "It's going to take the FDA doing their job with regard to the wellness centers," he said, which are treating conditions that haven't been proven to help the myriad problems some purport to treat, and "serves no purpose other than to suck the money out of people's pockets, vulnerable people. ... I think it's health care fraud." Peters said anybody can buy a hyperbaric chamber and start using it, even people without any medical training. He also noted that his organization has evidence of people buying hyperbaric chambers online. In an emailed response to questions from the Free Press, the FDA said hyperbaric oxygen chambers "are cleared as prescription-only devices ... (that) should only be operated by an appropriately licensed medical practitioner." "The FDA recommends patients check with their health care provider before using a (hyperbaric oxygen therapy device) to make sure they are pursuing the most appropriate care. If a health care provider recommends HBOT, the FDA advises patients go to a hospital or facility that has been inspected and is properly accredited by the Undersea & Hyperbaric Medical Society," the statement said. "As a general matter, if the FDA becomes aware of an incident involving a device failure or malfunction, the FDA follows appropriate processes to review and gather information on the incident to determine appropriate next steps, including but not limited to a device recall or a safety communication." What is a hyperbaric chamber? What to know after explosion killed boy in Michigan 42 Michigan hospitals got paid; just 2 were accredited While the FDA and Nessel encouraged patients to seek treatment only at sites with UHMS accreditation, there aren't many options in Michigan – including at hospitals – that meet the criteria. That's because accreditation is not required for medical facilities to provide hyperbaric oxygen treatments in Michigan. It's entirely optional. Of the 42 medical facilities in Michigan that billed the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for hyperbaric oxygen therapy in 2023, only two had UHMS accreditation, said Dr. Helen Gelly, who serves on the UHMS Board of Directors and works as a regenerative and hyperbaric medicine specialist in Georgia. The UHMS accreditation process is rigorous, includes on-site inspections, and isn't free. The process costs $10,000, which accredits the organization for three to four years, depending on the level, Peters said. The Oxford Center wasn't accredited by the UHMS, Nessel said, adding that its leaders also didn't have current certifications. No licensed physician was on-site to administer the treatments on the day Thomas died, either, she said. Peters said that in addition to having only two accredited sites in Michigan, the state doesn't require hyperbaric oxygen chambers to meet safety standards set by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Eleven other states do. Calls grow for hyperbaric oxygen therapy regulation Thomas Crites, 73, spent about 40 years working in the commercial diving industry on drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico, renamed the Gulf of America by the U.S. government; off the coasts of Alaska, California, Brazil; and in the North Sea. Some of his training was at Duke University Medical Center's F.G. Hall Laboratory and with the U.S. Navy. He said he has seen hyperbaric oxygen therapy work wonders for people who need treatment of wounds that won't heal and for decompression sickness and other conditions that have FDA authorization. But, he added, those who operate wellness centers that promote it as a therapy for dozens of conditions that are not FDA-approved are "charlatans." "They're only in it for the bucks," he said. "There's a right way to do it, a safe way to do it, and there's a wrong way." Crites would like to see a U.S. ban on all monoplace hyperbaric oxygen chambers that are compressed with pure oxygen, like the kind Thomas used. He called the chambers, which have room for just one person, "potential death traps" because of the fire risk they pose "because there's no way to get out of there." Instead, he supports multiplace air chambers that allow medical facilities to treat several people at once in a larger room with special hoods or masks. He'd also like more regulation, training, certifications and other safety protocols. Peters echoed similar sentiments and suggested that state and federal governments: Create a registry of businesses that operate hyperbaric chambers along with a registry of equipment so chambers can't be bought, sold and reused unsafely. Mandate accreditation through the UHMS to ensure the proper training and safety measures are in place. Require all programs to have a physician certified in hyperbaric treatment on-site when a chamber is in operation. Require the FDA to enforce restrictions on wellness centers, alternative medical spas, and other health centers from promoting the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for conditions that are not FDA-approved and providing those treatments. Peters acknowledged hyperbaric chamber fires are rare – there is roughly one incident every two or three years worldwide. But when they occur, they are almost always fatal, he said. Annie Cooper, who watched her son die in the fire at the Oxford Center, suffered severe burns when she tried to save Thomas from the fiery chamber, Harrington said. "The scarring is going to be permanent, and it will be a reminder of what happened on that day. ... If the emotional wounds aren't enough, every time she looks at her arms, that's what she's going to remember," Harrington said. Contact Kristen Shamus: kshamus@ Subscribe to the Detroit Free Press.
Yahoo
16-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Michigan boy's death raises concerns about unregulated hyperbaric oxygen therapy
The death of a 5-year-old in a hyperbaric chamber in Michigan has prompted calls for more oversight of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the largely unsupervised wellness industry before another tragedy occurs. Thomas Cooper was killed Jan. 31 when a fire broke out in a hyperbaric chamber at the Oxford Center, an alternative medicine clinic in the Detroit suburb of Troy. On Monday, the Oxford Center founder and CEO and three of her employees were charged in Thomas' death. Hyperbaric chambers are pressurized, tubelike devices that people lie or sit in for treatment, depending on the type of chamber. The therapy involves breathing in air that consists of 100% oxygen, which helps the body heal more quickly but also creates a highly combustible environment. The treatment method has been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration to help over a dozen conditions including carbon monoxide poisoning, severe wounds and decompression sickness in scuba divers. The Oxford Center's website lists over 100 conditions it says it treats, including many that the FDA has not approved for hyperbaric oxygen therapy, such as cancer, dyslexia, Alzheimer's, Lyme disease and autism — though it is not illegal to use hyperbaric chambers for these purposes. In a statement to NBC News, an attorney for the Oxford Center said the center was 'disappointed' by the charges filed against four staff members. 'The timing of these charges is surprising, as the typical protocol after a fire-related accident has not yet been completed. There are still outstanding questions about how this occurred,' Sam Vitale said via email about Thomas' death. Thomas was receiving hyperbaric oxygen therapy for sleep apnea and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, according to his family's attorney, which are not among the conditions approved by the FDA for such treatment. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said the boy died within seconds after a single spark started a fire in the hyperbaric chamber he was in. Officials have not said yet what the cause of the fire was. In a news conference Tuesday, Nessel accused Oxford Center staff of holding 'safety among their lowest considerations' but said officials had no way of knowing about the danger until it was too late, and cannot proactively investigate other facilities. 'Michigan law doesn't require any oversight over the use of hyperbaric chambers, so without having some sort of probable cause to believe that there are crimes being committed involving hyperbaric chambers in other places in the state, we wouldn't have the authority to go in and perform an inspection,' Nessel said. The Oxford Center was subject to inspections every few years by the Troy Fire Department, said Michael Koehler, the fire department's deputy chief. He said the center applied for a permit when it opened, indicating it would be using hyperbaric chambers, and was last inspected in March 2023. 'But our inspections are fire- and life-safety focused,' Koehler said in a phone interview Friday. 'There's nothing that covers the operation or the maintenance of the chambers themselves.' While hospitals that use hyperbaric chambers abide by codes developed by the National Fire Protection Association, a standards development organization, Michigan is not unique in lacking a regulatory framework for hyperbaric oxygen therapy outside of traditional health care facilities, said John Peters, executive director of the Undersea & Hyperbaric Medical Society, a nonprofit organization that accredits hospitals and freestanding facilities with hyperbaric chambers in the absence of government regulation. At the moment, nearly 150 facilities across the country are accredited by the group, with two in Michigan. The accreditation process involves on-site inspections and verification that equipment is maintained and specialists are properly trained, and costs about $10,000 for an accreditation that lasts for three to four years, Peters said. He estimated that thousands of spas, wellness companies and other storefronts are operating hyperbaric chambers in the U.S. without having undergone accreditation, and he said he fears many may not be upholding stringent standards. Two Democratic legislators in Michigan, state Sen. Stephanie Chang and state Rep. Sharon MacDonell, are working together to explore regulatory options after Thomas' death. Chang said she was alarmed by what appeared to be a myriad of problems that led to the fire, based on what the Michigan attorney general outlined, including allegedly not having a properly trained technician operating the hyperbaric chamber. 'Let's fix all of those loopholes,' Chang said. She said she and MacDonell are aiming to introduce legislation in the spring. MacDonell said it was important not just to make hyperbaric chambers safer but also to stop businesses from making unproven claims about what the therapy can do. 'People are taking advantage of parents with children with hard-to-treat conditions, and just kind of monetizing the desperation of the parents,' she said. 'It's just incomprehensible.' Thomas' death comes as the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy has proliferated, gaining steam in recent years thanks to celebrities who have touted it for everything from anti-aging to boosting their mental health. The FDA has warned that some claims about what hyperbaric chambers can do are 'unproven' and encourages patients to only go to accredited facilities. Hyperbaric chamber fires are rare, but not unprecedented. In 2009, a 4-year-old and his grandmother died after a blaze at an unaccredited Florida clinic where the boy was receiving treatment for cerebral palsy. Two staff members were charged in their deaths, one of whom was a doctor who lost his medical license. The 2009 case did not prompt national safety regulations, Peters said. He is hopeful that Thomas' death will. 'We desperately need mandatory accreditation,' he said. 'We're hoping that this will turn the page.' While there are guidelines for how to safely construct and operate hyperbaric chambers, there is no consistent federal, state or local oversight of the practice outside of hospitals. The FDA said in an email last month that it regulates certain hyperbaric chambers that meet the agency's definition of Class II medical devices, which are 'intended for use in the diagnosis of disease or other conditions, or in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease.' But it does not regulate the practice of medicine and referred NBC News to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, The Joint Commission and state medical licensing agencies for more information. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services requires Medicare and Medicaid providers to comply with parts of the National Fire Protection Association code, but that does not apply to other facilities, which must still adhere to local building and fire codes, said Brian O'Connor, a senior engineer at the National Fire Protection Association. The Joint Commission, a nonprofit organization that accredits over 24,000 health care programs around the world, said in an email that it has emergency procedures and training drills for hospitals that have hyperbaric chambers but does not accredit places such as the Oxford Center. Meanwhile, Michigan's health department, its occupational safety agency and the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs all said they do not have oversight of hyperbaric chambers. The licensing agency said facilities using hyperbaric chambers are not required to be licensed, which Peters said was shocking. 'Why?' he said. 'Even a hairstylist has to have a license, and she's not going to blow up her whole salon.'This article was originally published on
NBC News
16-03-2025
- Health
- NBC News
Michigan boy's death raises concerns about unregulated hyperbaric oxygen therapy outside of health care facilities
The death of a 5-year-old in a hyperbaric chamber in Michigan has prompted calls for more oversight of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the largely unsupervised wellness industry before another tragedy occurs. Thomas Cooper was killed Jan. 31 when a fire broke out in a hyperbaric chamber at the Oxford Center, an alternative medicine clinic in the Detroit suburb of Troy. On Monday, the Oxford Center founder and CEO and three of her employees were charged in Thomas' death. Hyperbaric chambers are pressurized, tubelike devices that people lie or sit in for treatment, depending on the type of chamber. The therapy involves breathing in air that consists of 100% oxygen, which helps the body heal more quickly but also creates a highly combustible environment. The treatment method has been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration to help over a dozen conditions including carbon monoxide poisoning, severe wounds and decompression sickness in scuba divers. The Oxford Center's website lists over 100 conditions it says it treats, including many that the FDA has not approved for hyperbaric oxygen therapy, such as cancer, dyslexia, Alzheimer's, Lyme disease and autism — though it is not illegal to use hyperbaric chambers for these purposes. In a statement to NBC News, an attorney for the Oxford Center said the center was 'disappointed' by the charges filed against four staff members. 'The timing of these charges is surprising, as the typical protocol after a fire-related accident has not yet been completed. There are still outstanding questions about how this occurred,' Sam Vitale said via email about Thomas' death. Thomas was receiving hyperbaric oxygen therapy for sleep apnea and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, according to his family's attorney, which are not among the conditions approved by the FDA for such treatment. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said the boy died within seconds after a single spark started a fire in the hyperbaric chamber he was in. Officials have not said yet what the cause of the fire was. In a news conference Tuesday, Nessel accused Oxford Center staff of holding 'safety among their lowest considerations' but said officials had no way of knowing about the danger until it was too late, and cannot proactively investigate other facilities. 'Michigan law doesn't require any oversight over the use of hyperbaric chambers, so without having some sort of probable cause to believe that there are crimes being committed involving hyperbaric chambers in other places in the state, we wouldn't have the authority to go in and perform an inspection,' Nessel said. The Oxford Center was subject to inspections every few years by the Troy Fire Department, said Michael Koehler, the fire department's deputy chief. He said the center applied for a permit when it opened, indicating it would be using hyperbaric chambers, and was last inspected in March 2023. 'But our inspections are fire- and life-safety focused,' Koehler said in a phone interview Friday. 'There's nothing that covers the operation or the maintenance of the chambers themselves.' While hospitals that use hyperbaric chambers abide by codes developed by the National Fire Protection Association, a standards development organization, Michigan is not unique in lacking a regulatory framework for hyperbaric oxygen therapy outside of traditional health care facilities, said John Peters, executive director of the Undersea & Hyperbaric Medical Society, a nonprofit organization that accredits hospitals and freestanding facilities with hyperbaric chambers in the absence of government regulation. At the moment, nearly 150 facilities across the country are accredited by the group, with two in Michigan. The accreditation process involves on-site inspections and verification that equipment is maintained and specialists are properly trained, and costs about $10,000 for an accreditation that lasts for three to four years, Peters said. He estimated that thousands of spas, wellness companies and other storefronts are operating hyperbaric chambers in the U.S. without having undergone accreditation, and he said he fears many may not be upholding stringent standards. Two Democratic legislators in Michigan, state Sen. Stephanie Chang and state Rep. Sharon MacDonell, are working together to explore regulatory options after Thomas' death. Chang said she was alarmed by what appeared to be a myriad of problems that led to the fire, based on what the Michigan attorney general outlined, including allegedly not having a properly trained technician operating the hyperbaric chamber. 'Let's fix all of those loopholes,' Chang said. She said she and MacDonell are aiming to introduce legislation in the spring. MacDonell said it was important not just to make hyperbaric chambers safer but also to stop businesses from making unproven claims about what the therapy can do. 'People are taking advantage of parents with children with hard-to-treat conditions, and just kind of monetizing the desperation of the parents,' she said. 'It's just incomprehensible.' Thomas' death comes as the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy has proliferated, gaining steam in recent years thanks to celebrities who have touted it for everything from anti-aging to boosting their mental health. The FDA has warned that some claims about what hyperbaric chambers can do are 'unproven' and encourages patients to only go to accredited facilities. Hyperbaric chamber fires are rare, but not unprecedented. In 2009, a 4-year-old and his grandmother died after a blaze at an unaccredited Florida clinic where the boy was receiving treatment for cerebral palsy. Two staff members were charged in their deaths, one of whom was a doctor who lost his medical license. The 2009 case did not prompt national safety regulations, Peters said. He is hopeful that Thomas' death will. 'We desperately need mandatory accreditation,' he said. 'We're hoping that this will turn the page.' While there are guidelines for how to safely construct and operate hyperbaric chambers, there is no consistent federal, state or local oversight of the practice outside of hospitals. The FDA said in an email last month that it regulates certain hyperbaric chambers that meet the agency's definition of Class II medical devices, which are 'intended for use in the diagnosis of disease or other conditions, or in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease.' But it does not regulate the practice of medicine and referred NBC News to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, The Joint Commission and state medical licensing agencies for more information. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services requires Medicare and Medicaid providers to comply with parts of the National Fire Protection Association code, but that does not apply to other facilities, which must still adhere to local building and fire codes, said Brian O'Connor, a senior engineer at the National Fire Protection Association. The Joint Commission, a nonprofit organization that accredits over 24,000 health care programs around the world, said in an email that it has emergency procedures and training drills for hospitals that have hyperbaric chambers but does not accredit places such as the Oxford Center. Meanwhile, Michigan's health department, its occupational safety agency and the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs all said they do not have oversight of hyperbaric chambers. The licensing agency said facilities using hyperbaric chambers are not required to be licensed, which Peters said was shocking. 'Why?' he said. 'Even a hairstylist has to have a license, and she's not going to blow up her whole salon.'
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
After child's death, Oxford confirms hyperbaric treatments have halted in Brighton
BRIGHTON — After the fiery death of a five-year-old boy in Troy, and the ensuing charges filed against Oxford Center CEO Tamela Peterson and other officials, the organization's location in Brighton has halted hyperbaric chamber treatments. That's according to an employee, who confirmed via phone call with The Daily the location is not offering the treatments "at this time." The center has also seemed to pause postings of TOC Talks, a podcast, which consistently uploaded 2-3 episodes per month between February 2023 and August 2024, followed by another posting Nov. 14. None have been posted since Jan. 10. The center's Facebook and Instagram pages have also paused posts and reels about patient progress, staff and treatment options. The most recent Instagram post was made Jan. 13, and posted to Facebook the following day. There have been no social media posts since. More: Police say Brighton woman ran, tried to hide evidence after boy's hyperbaric chamber death The location in Troy, where the five-year-old's death occurred, is "temporarily closed." On Jan. 31, a five-year-old patient named Thomas Cooper had begun his thirty-sixth hyperbaric chamber treatment for ADHD and sleep apnea when a spark caused the chamber to erupt in flames. Cooper's mother, who rushed to his side from a nearby waiting room, suffered third degree burns trying to free him. The investigation that followed revealed '... a clear history of dishonesty, interference with investigations, predatory behavior towards vulnerable individuals desperately trying to get treatment, and a culture of negligence and unsafe practices that's gone on for years,' according to testimony from Troy Detective Danielle Trigger. Oxford's founder, Peterson, 58, of Brighton, is charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in Thomas' death, as are the Oxford Center's operations director, Gary Marken, 65, of Spring Arbor, and its safety and training director, Jeffrey Mosteller, 64, of Clinton Township. A fourth person, Aleta Harward Moffitt, 60, of Rochester Hills, was the operator of the chamber on the morning of Thomas' death and is charged with involuntary manslaughter and intentionally placing false information on a medical record. The Oxford Center offered hyperbaric oxygen therapy for a variety of conditions not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, including autism, cerebral palsy, cancer and autoimmune diseases. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel described the business as 'unscrupulous,' saying that, for years, Peterson, Marken and Mosteller blatantly disregarded safety measures, using the highly pressurized oxygen chambers on children's bodies 'over and over again to provide unaccredited and debunked so-called treatments, chiefly because it brought cash into the door.' Subscribe: Get all your breaking news and unlimited access to our local coverage Hyperbaric chambers contain 100% pressurized oxygen. Those conditions make the environment inside them highly combustible. Trigger said waivers signed by patients and the parents of children who were treated at the center didn't include warnings of a fire hazard. Peterson, according to police, ran away from detectives when asked for her cellphone after the death, and had her son scrub her laptop days later. Still, police found electronic messages on Peterson's devices, according to Trigger, including an exchange in which Peterson sent photos of the boy's burning body and wrote 'something to the effect of: 'If my leg was on fire, I would at least try to hit it and put it out. He just laid there and did nothing.'' — Contact reporter Tess Ware at tware@ This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Oxford Center in Brighton pauses hyperbaric treatments after death
