A Boeing whistleblower has died due to a surprise infection, according to his family, just two months after another Boeing whistleblower died in an apparent suicide, The Seattle Times reports.
Joshua Dean, a former quality inspector for Spirit AeroSystems, a supplier for Boeing, died this week due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, also known as MRSA, a type of staph infection that is resistant to antibiotics. His family described Dean as having a healthy lifestyle and said he was in good health until about two weeks ago, when he was hospitalized due to difficulty breathing.
While in the hospital, Dean was intubated and developed pneumonia, followed by MRSA. He was moved from Wichita, Kansas, to a hospital in Oklahoma City to receive treatment from an ECMO machine, which helps oxygenate blood once organs begin to fail, and he was put on dialysis.
Dean had filed a complaint against Spirit in 2023 alleging that the company had fired him after he raised concerns about "serious and gross misconduct by senior quality management of the 737 production line."
He was represented by the same South Carolina-based law firm that represented Boeing whistleblower John Barnett, who was found dead in his truck last March. A coroner ruled Barnett's death a suicide.
Brian Knowles, an attorney who represented both Dean and Barnett, declined to speculate about their deaths.
"Whistleblowers are needed. They bring to light wrongdoing and corruption in the interests of society. It takes a lot of courage to stand up," Knowles told the Times. "It's a difficult set of circumstances. Our thoughts now are with John's family and Josh's family."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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