Florida has the wrongful death clause which seems to allow "free-kills" for those over age 25 without a spouse or dependents under age 25.  THIS IS THE ZERO CAP, about  which no one is talking.  Medicare and other well-insured patients  are especially endangered, since our government [Florida and federal as well as other reported states] do not control the healthcare fraud aspect adequately. 
          Florida ranks 44th in physician discipline.  No one appears to care for the elderly except for the money, which can be made on them.  Elder abuse is a real issue, which is being hidden from public view.      
FLORIDA CASES

1. Zoe - tortured to death after stroke  Bradenton- HCA Blake/ihs Heritage Park  status today
7. Jerry - wrong person's cancer - dead  *        Punta Gorda
8.   Nicholas  - belated brainsurgery - then sub-standard operation and recovery care
11. Donaldson - hospitalized without  treatment  ** Florida State hospital - Chattahoochee
12. Death during Breast enlargement - Dr. Dangl    Sarasota
13. Death thru  prescribed drug overdose [10 X]  Bradenton  -  HCA Blake
for looking up Florida doctors,lawsuits and law, check out
http://www.Floridamalpractice.com   /   Florida Malpractice Victims CONTINUED                                                                                   

    OTHER CASES

1.  Indiana Cases and Excellent Information   link appears not to work
4.   NF's Mother - stroke recovering to brain damaged        Georgia - now in Florida
13. profound brain damage and multiple disabilities  at birth by Bush named D.O. *    AR
14. emergency call in hospital  ignored- baby brain damaged - $ 35M **   IL
15. Overlake Hospital - various incidents  Bellevue, WA
16. Brain Damage from Back Surgery - $2.2 or 18.2 M  Houston, TX
17. Children's Healthcare [Scottish Rite] - removal of baby from nursing mother  GA
18. 32-yr-old permanently brain damaged [tubal ligation after child birth]  $8.5 M  WA more
19. Virginia Cases about dagerous doctors Virginia-Pilot series 2003
20. 67-yr-old dead after single bypass - $1.5M   Minot, ND 
21. 2 birth injuries by physician residents at HCA's Wesley Medical Center   *  Wichita KS
22. Stillbirths - 2 mothers allowed to sue for emotional distress wo phys. injury   NY
23. Missouri cases hurt by caps   MO
24. Cancer misdiagnosis - 44-yr-old dead case settled  Clarks Green, NY
25. Birth Damage - $2.3M   Parkland medical Center NH
26. Leg Amputation/Disease unrecognized  *  Atlantic General Hospital  NJ
27. Doctors do not treat infection timely United Medical Center in Cheyenne WY
29. $27.5 million to the family of a 6-year-old boy for birth injuries

MISCELLANEOUS ABUSE   

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           LINKS
1. Active Patients Rights Group 1st Do N.O.H.A.R.M.
   National Organization for Healthcare industry             Accountability and  Reform in Medicine -St. Pete area

(has extensive list of other groups)

          excellent information on injustice in medical malpractice link appears not to work

4. Floridians For Patient Protection - FL Trial Lawyer sponsored:
www.Floridiansforpatientprotection.org
active for Florida victims - good legislation proposals
CAP RESULTS
Texas     Maryland        Pennsylvania[Docs lie]      Indiana * Oregon
* Indiana proves that caps do no work!!!!    

This page was developed by  SPCP - The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Patients is a non-profit patients' rights organization.  We are here to aid you in furthering your health and to assist in reducing your  health care problems.
Founded on a deadly experience with no recourse, we strive to prevent further occurrences of  such medical abuse in the interest of profits.
phone: 888-492-5856 or 941-794-1634      http://justicedenied.homestead.com




               This site was started on June 22, 2003
If you have a story, contact us at spcp4u@netzero.net 
3. Victor Flynn had his left foot crushed at work at age 17. Surgery saved his foot, yet  medication errors put him into a coma, and gave him 8 strokes, which effectively made him a living, feeling prisoner of his crippled body.   READ HIS STORY


















5. The son reported that E was scheduled for some heart tests [short stay procedure], when during the catheterization, her artery was pierced leading to a heart attack and death as well as a bill  for half a million dollars.  The Wrongful Death Statute, the zero cap for the elderly [early 70's] with adult children kicked in.  Is it right that this lack of compensation for the "bad outcome" of a test procedure should occur? [In the 3 weeks of near coma unplanned post-op,  there was  also post-op renal failure .  There was no autopsy of the old patient.  The surgery was to repair the test failure - Medicare paid.  The patient paid with her life. "Standard course of business in Florida."
































8.   From Tena, the 44 year old  permanently disabled mother:
I care for my son Nicholas (21) who is permanently disabled due to mistakes during surgery, lack of communication between nursing staff and doctors, and the staffs inability to listen to the patient or his parents. I begged the nurses to call the doctor when Nicholas stopped talking.  They insisted that it was normal.  I beg of you, please read my story.  Placing a CAP on Medical Malpractice will not help my son.  Who will care for my son when I can't?  How can you determine what my son's future would cost.  $500,000?  This is for the rest-of-his-life.  I am sure that if my son had received better medical care, that he would be graduating from FSU next year.

In 1999, my son was ill with head pain.  Doctor after Doctor told me "not to worry about it," it's just migraines.  I could not believe how disinterested doctors were about my son's condition.  A neurologist tried to prescribe Depakot, a depression drug.  I asked him why Depakot?  He whispered, " your son is probably depressed."  I repeated Nicholas' symptoms over and over again, but he insisted he had depression.  I took my son and left the office.  I returned to Nicholas' primary doctor and begged him to take an X-ray or CTscan.  The doctor wrote a referral for an X-ray, but insisted that there was nothing to find.  Several days later, the doctor called and said that Nicholas had a tumor in the center Ventricle in his brain.  He also said that he didn't think it was causing Nicholas' pain. I suggested an MRI to further investigate where the problem was.  After my long exhausting plea for his help, he agreed to an MRI. He also said that if the MRI is negative, Medicaid won't pay for it.  The MRI was "inconclusive."  His doctor said for us to wait a year to see if the tumor would grow.  The doctor refused to prescribe pain killers.  He suggested that I take him to a therapist instead.  I pleaded with the doctor to give Nicholas the pain medication.  He is so sick that he can't eat, go to school or leave his bed.  He lived in the dark because any light or noise would increase the pain.  The doctor finally agreed but only for 3 days.  I would call the doctor's office the next day for more medication as their policy insisted on a five day turnaround for prescription refills.  He would make Nicholas wait for days to refill his medications and again for only 3 days.  I was at the doctors office every other day begging them to please, please give him some pain relief.  It was a "living nightmare."  

I contacted the Insurance Company and they scheduled a second opinion with a Neurosurgeon.  We explained what we had gone through.  The doctor knew what was causing his pain and how to fix it.  Surgery was his only option.  The doctor told us that it was a common surgery, she performed this brain surgery all of the time and it was her specialty.  I was so happy that we finally found a caring physician.  We had hope.  This was to be an ordinary day, they did this surgery all of the time.  A surgery that would only take 2 to 2 1/2 hours, took 5 hours.  I was worried sick.  Finally the doctor came out.  They had a problem.  Nicholas' brain hemorrhaged.  They tried to stop the bleeding, but couldn't.  The doctor was upset and tears streaming down her face.  I felt sorry for the doctor, and I hugged her.  That hug will haunt me forever.  Thirteen hours later, Nicholas had a stroke.  His mind was gone, His past life was gone, his future. . . gone!  He was left to vegetate in intensive care for three weeks before implanting a shunt into his brain. I'll never forget the Doctor asking me what I wanted to do about Nicholas.  I said, "You are the Doctor, you tell me!!!!!  What's left of my beautiful Son?  He has no Short Term Memory, Amnesia, Hydrocephalous and OCD.  All of the supportive friends are gone.  The girl that he loved, gone.  His plans for a bright future to study Meteorology and Astronomy, at FSU, are gone!  He can't drive.  He is limited to work a few hours per day, but no one will hire him.   All of this because someone drilled into the wrong place and caused a bleed.  The doctor knows, the nurses know, Nicholas' heart stopped twice that night.  Who will be held accountable?

VOTE FOR MY SON /NO CAPS
ALLOW US THE CHANCE TO MAKE THESE DOCTORS HELD ACCOUNTABLE

excerpts from KRISTEN ZAMBO, klzambo@naplesnews.com
January 15, 2004

Beverley Hill and her husband, Donald from Naples filed the malpractice lawsuit in July against Drs. Valerie Dyke, David M. Bernstein and Jacob H. Goldberger of Surgical Associates of Southwest Florida. Also named in the suit were Lee Memorial Hospital, Southwest Florida Regional Medical Center and Bon Secours Home Health Services.

The Hills say Dyke left a sponge inside of Beverley when she had 8 inches of her colon removed on Oct. 10, 2000. A polyp with pre-cancerous cells had previously been removed, and a portion of her colon was to be tested for cancer. Hill was readmitted to Lee Memorial Hospital about a week later when the wound became infected. Later that month, she underwent surgery to drain the infected area, according to the suit. Less than six months later, an abscess formed and she underwent another surgery and the sponge was removed.

"I thought she was too slapdash after my surgery," Beverley Hill said. "It affected me a lot. I'm not trying to go to court to gouge the surgeon. I just want to slap her wrist and bring this to her attention."  She is willing to settle for  $50,000 or more from at least Dyke.

Beverley Hill has said that she had to remain in her home while her wound healed after each of her three surgeries and she could not care for her grandchildren during the day, as usual. Each time the wound was opened, it took two months to heal. She worked until 1962 as a registered medical record librarian, said doctors should take responsibility when mistakes are made.

"I don't think they're careful enough," Hill said. "I think I made my point (by filing suit). They should be accountable for what they're doing. It happens too often."

Health insurance companies spend more every time medical mistakes occur, she said. Hers had to pay for two more surgeries.

10. Angela Poe sued Dr. William R. Locke, of the Starkville Clinic for Women, alleging the doctor was negligent in the prenatal care and birth of her son, Marvin Winford Poe. Angela  alleged that Locke did not properly monitor the weight of her child before his birth - estimating the baby's weight to be about eight pounds before delivery, when in fact the infant weighed 13 pounds. Angela had a difficult delivery on Nov. 11, 1991, and  her son suffered a nerve injury to his shoulder, leaving him with some paralysis.


10. From February 11, 2004 St. petersburg Times Jury awards injured man $5-million
Two surgeries on the 71-year-old's spine in 2000 damaged his legs and his ability to walk.
By MARCUS FRANKLIN,
Robert "Jack" Vann from Birmingham, Ala. had a numb left leg  and responded to an ad in Reader's Digest for the Florida Spine Institute in Clearwater..He was told the numbness stemmed from a cyst on the right side of his spine and he needed surgery to remove it.

Before the operations, a doctor at Florida Spine diagnosed Vann with peripheral neuropathy - damage to the peripheral nerves, the vast communications network that sends information from the brain and spinal cord to every other part of the body, Florin [medical expert] said. The condition can be treated with medication. Florin said Dr. Webb sought a second opinion before deciding on surgery.

The expert also testified a neurosurgeon should have been present during the second operation. Florida Spine has no neurosurgeon on staff, according to Florin. Webb operated on Vann a second time the same day in May 2000 after the man complained to his wife, Betty, of a lack of feeling in his legs.

A Pinellas-Pasco jury warded the Vanns $5-million in the medical malpractice lawsuit the couple filed in 2001 against the institute and the doctor who performed the operations.

The award compensated for past and future suffering, as well as reimbursement for medical bills. It also covered past and future estimated living costs for Vann's expected life span, about 12 years.




12. Hearing ordered in malpractice case by Rob Moritz Arkansas News Bureau Feb 19, 2004

Last year, a St. Francis County jury found Dr. Jim Hill negligent and awarded Anita Billups, whose 13-month-old son died in 1995 from an infection that was misdiagnosed, $250,000.

On Dec. 3, 1995, Billups brought her son Stephon to the emergency room at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Forrest City, and said the infant felt hot, was foaming at the mouth and feeding poorly. The infant was examined by Hill, who determined that the child was not sick.

Billups alleged in the lawsuit that she was told to purchase a thermometer, and to give the child Tylenol and Pedialyte with no instructions on amounts or when to give the medicines, or how to use a rectal thermometer.

Billups brought the child back to the emergency room the following day, and the child's vital signs were abnormal. Stephon was transported to Arkansas Children's Hospital, where he died from a bacterial infection on Dec. 6.

During the trial, Hill argued that the ailment which killed the child was not recognizable in its early stages.

14. The family of AJ Arkebauer, a severely brain damaged 5-year-old , will receive $35 million. Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the doctor who was delivering the baby have to pay a small part of the $35 million dollars. The anesthesiologist,  Dr. Edwin Lojeski, has to pay the bulk of the settlement. He was alone with a nurse in a private room, and his colleagues say he ignored a number of pages. The settlement will guarantee that AJ will have excellent medical care for the rest of his life.

Nurse Margarete McLaren testified that in October of 1998, she and Lojeski were alone in his fourth floor bedroom  and it wasn't until the third page, a 911 emergency call ,that the doctor finally got up. Arkebauer was in a difficult labor at Prentice Hospital  and needed an emergency C-Section.

AJ can't walk or talk. "Neither of us like Dr. Lojeski. Frankly, I don't think he should have a medical license. I hope someone looks into that," AJ's father, Todd Arkebauer said.
Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation, and a statement released by the hospital reads:"The inappropriate conduct by one individual in no way represents the collective excellence by the thousands of superior caregivers on our campus."


----------------------

Malpractice suit settled for $8.5 million

This story was published Friday, March 19th, 2004

By John Trumbo Herald staff writer

The family of a comatose 32-year-old Richland woman has agreed to an $8.5 million settlement in a medical malpractice lawsuit against Kadlec Medical Center and an anesthesiologist from Louisiana.

The case of Kim Jones, who turned 32 on Tuesday and has been in a coma for nearly 16 months, was set to begin trial March 29.

Jones sustained permanent brain damage on Nov. 12, 2002, following a tubal ligation at Kadlec while under the care of anesthesiologist Dr. Robert Lee Berry.

Benton County Superior Court Judge Craig Matheson approved the settlement Wednesday, after refusing a request to let the deal be sealed confidentially in court.

Berry, according to court documents, failed to monitor Jones properly, allowing her blood pressure to drop dangerously low. He also allegedly removed her breathing tube while she was still paralyzed from the sedatives.

Only minutes earlier, Jones had given birth to her third child, KaeDence.

Earlier this week, the state suspended Berry's state license to practice medicine. He has not practiced medicine since the day of Jones' surgery.

Hospital officials have investigated the possibility that Berry was diverting drugs intended for patients for his own use while at Kadlec and that he had a prior history of drug problems in Louisiana.

Jones is now in a nursing home in Lansing, Mich., near her parents' home.

"Seeing Kim day after day in that nursing home is the hard part," Gloria said.

Taking the case to a jury would have been difficult to bear, financially and emotionally, said Calvin.

The Joneses left jobs and their home in Michigan to spend eight months at their daughter's side in Seattle following the disastrous surgery. It took tens of thousands of dollars, much of it raised in Lansing through a community fish fry, to bring Kim home last year.

Settlement details will be sorted out to allow for payments to care for Kim; to her parents, and to Kim's fianc, Christopher Mirisciotta, and their three children, Christian, 11, Essence, 5, and KaeDence, 15 months, all of Richland.

Kadlec's insurer, Physicians Insurance Co., will pay $7.5 million, and Berry's insurer, G.E. Medical Protection Insurance Co., will pay $1 million.

Seattle attorney Ron Perey, who represented the Jones family in suing the hospital, said Kim has remained in an unresponsive vegetative state "with little hope of recovery."

A prepared statement from Kadlec stated that in addition to money for the woman's family and her care, the settlement avoids a lengthy jury trial, with its emotional and financial costs to the participants.

"Even though this court case is now resolved, the heartfelt thoughts of all of us at Kadlec will remain with Ms. Jones and her family," said the unsigned statement released by hospital spokesman Jim Hall.

"I think he should never be allowed to practice medicine again," said Mirisciotta, who is caring for his and Jones' children in Richland.

Mirisciotta said the settlement was in the offing for several months.

Perey said a settlement was preferred to taking the case to a jury because any verdict for the Joneses would be appealed and it would be two or three years before any money would go to his clients.

"There are risks with going to trial. It's hard to predict juries," Perey said. "And it would be very tough reliving all this for the family and the community."

Perey said his office fronted approximately $380,000 to carry the case to the threshold of trial, and the Joneses also had made large financial commitments to see that justice was done.

"These are good, solid, middle-class people who have been stretched by this," Perey said.

Gloria Jones quit her job of 29 years with General Motors to be with her daughter. Calvin Jones remains as the family breadwinner in his job as a lobbyist for a utility company.

"In a couple of months, we will exchange $8.5 million, but come July, Kim will still be in bed staring at the ceiling," Perey said.

Judge Matheson said the amounts paid by Berry and Kadlec do not reflect culpability. "They reflect the limits of the insurance," he said.

Perey said it was ironic that the Herald carried a story about the state suspending Berry's license on the same day the settlement was being approved in court.

"It took the state Department of Health 16 months to act, but they did the right thing. Hopefully, the state of Louisiana will follow suit," he said.

Perey said Berry has admitted to diverting Demerol from patients for his own use and has left the state to enter a rehabilitation program for drug-impaired physicians.

Kadlec spokesman Hall refused to comment about the settlement beyond the prepared statement, which also mentioned Berry's diversion of narcotics and suspension of his state medical license.

The statement said: "Ms. Jones' injuries also occurred through the failure of his prior employer and hospital in Louisiana to investigate and act upon solid evidence of possible drug diversion and addiction.

"Not only did his prior employer and hospital fail to investigate, they also sent reference letters which did not disclose that Dr. Berry had actually been fired for being impaired on the job and putting their patients at significant risk.

"Had Kadlec been told the truth about Dr. Berry's past employment, he would never have been allowed to practice at our hospital," the statement added.

Winning a large settlement brought some satisfaction, but fell short of total victory for the Jones family.

"This has been a very hard day. There is still no resolution. Dr. Berry is still out there walking around," said Gloria Jones, adding that Kadlec shouldn't try to put all the blame on the anesthesiologist.

"It took more than one person. Dr. Berry did it, but he worked for Kadlec. And it took it a lot for us to get that. This is too little too late," she said.

Kadlec's statement said the hospital intends to spread the word about the culpability of Berry and his Louisiana employer.

"Kadlec hopes it can deter other hospitals from sweeping a problem doctor under the carpet and then passing the doctor off to another unsuspecting hospital," the statement said.

Perey said he is considering how he and Kadlec can pursue justice in the Jones case by suing in Louisiana to hold Berry's former employer responsible for covering up his professional history.

"We would like for Kadlec to pursue that... but we don't know what's going to happen yet," Gloria Jones said.

Elizabeth Leedom of Seattle represented Kadlec Medical Center and James King of Spokane represented Berry


March 20, 2004, 12:30AM

Malpractice filings fall after cap
Doctors predict lower health care bills as law's foes say patient care suffering
By ANDREW TILGHMAN
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
RESOURCES
Proposition 12: Background on the legislation from the Houston Chronicle archives.
The number of medical malpractice lawsuits filed in Harris County has fallen dramatically since Texas lawmakers imposed a cap six months ago on the amount of money juries can award.

The sharp drop has been welcomed by physicians and insurance companies who backed the $250,000 limit on awards for pain, suffering or other noneconomic damages. Doctors say fewer multimillion-dollar jury awards will translate into lower health care costs and improved patient care.

But lawyers and other opponents of the measure that took effect Sept. 1 say the drop in filings proves the limits are too severe, leaving bad doctors unaccountable for causing deaths or life-altering injuries.

"This is effectively closing the courthouse doors and eliminating the constitutional rights of many victims of medical malpractice," said Dan Lambe, executive director of Texas Watch, the Austin-based group that rallied against the limits.

In recent years, Harris County averaged 400 to 500 medical malpractice lawsuits. Last year, that figure spiked to 1,154 between January and August, as personal injury lawyers rushed to the courthouse to file under the "old law," which had no limit on jury awards.

But from Sept. 1 to Feb. 29, only 68 medical malpractice lawsuits were filed, according to the Harris County district clerk's office. Statewide figures were not available, because many district clerks do not break down case filings by category.

Some suggest the drop is only the temporary result of lawyers who rushed to file lawsuits under the old law and are now guiding those through the court system.

But personal injury lawyers also say the new law is forcing them to reject cases they once would have pursued.

Attorney Richard Mithoff pointed to a case he recently considered involving a baby blinded at birth because doctors failed to identify a dangerous but treatable eye condition.

Mithoff believes the primary doctor was negligent, but he may not take the case because the costs -- investigation, hiring experts and trial preparation -- could exceed any award.

"Certainly there are some very meritorious cases like the blinded baby where the expense of bringing the case may outweigh any potential recovery," Mithoff said. "That is a matter the client has to weigh very, very carefully."

Under the new law, jurors have no limits on awards for medical expenses or lost wages caused by errors by a doctor or hospital. But seven-figure verdicts may become rare, since the law limits awards for pain and suffering or punitive damages, attorneys said.

Personal injury attorneys often must invest up to $50,000 or $100,000 to take a case to trial. With prospective returns drastically reduced, some are "turning to do other things, they just don't see a future in it," Robert Talaska, a Houston attorney, said of personal injury law.

Last November, voters narrowly approved a constitutional amendment that makes any legal challenge to the new law nearly impossible.

The amendment was designed in part to reassure insurance companies the cap would be permanent, rendering Texas a safe place to compete for medical liability insurance business.

Despite the amendment and the drop in lawsuits, doctors and hospitals have seen little change in their insurance costs, which they have predicted will eventually fall and create future savings.

The state's largest insurer, Texas Medical Liability Trust, had vowed to lower its rates by 12 percent if voters passed the constitutional amendment.

But several other insurance companies have requested rate increases since the new law took effect, said Jim Hurley, a spokesman for the state Department of Insurance.

The Joint Underwriting Association, which covers doctors and hospitals no other company will insure, requested a 35 percent rate increase last year, which state officials denied.

Another company, GE Medical Protective, has requested a 19 percent rate increase, which remains pending, Hurley said.

Significant savings for doctors and patients may be several years off, he said.

"I kind of liken it to turning a battleship going full steam," Hurley said. "The course is changing, but it happens over time."

Health administrators point to growing competition as a source of optimism that malpractice insurance premiums may fall in the coming months.

Lured by the prospect of stable risks and rising profits, several companies that did not offer medical liability insurance in Texas have started seeking business since the cap took effect.

At least two have started competing here and up to 10 others plan to begin in the coming months, Hurley said.

Doctors and hospitals may begin to reap savings later this year, when they renegotiate their annual insurance policies for the first time under the cap.

"I am hoping we are going to see that at the end of the year when were are doing renewals," said Dr. David Pate, an attorney and chief medical officer for St. Luke's Episcopal Health Systems.

Rate reductions may be slowed by the glut of cases filed in the months before the Sept. 1 deadline.

"Had that rush to the courthouse not occurred, certainly we would have expected rates to come down further and faster," said Jon Opelt, director of Texas Alliance For Patient Access, a Austin-based lobbying group representing doctors, hospitals, nursing homes and health clinics.

"But there is great optimism the market is turning and will continue to turn."



---------------------------------------------------------------------
Panel kills medical malpractice proposal 
ANNAPOLIS -- A Senate committee Friday killed a medical malpractice bill proposed by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich that would have altered how monetary damages are awarded and reduced the state's cap on pain and suffering damages. [March 19,2004]



VICTIMS
The best definition of a med-mal victim is found on an Australian site:
http://groups.msn.com/messup/victim.msnw .  It is a 4-page  description and should be read by every victim to help us understand our problems and feelings better. It claims doctor-caused victims to be the highest at at 18,000 deaths in AU, yet in US hospitals alone  as many as 100,000 die due to iatrogenic [doctor's] errors. The Victim starts with a quote by George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950): "Our mission is not to deal with obvious horrors, but to open the eyes of normal respectable men to evils which are escaping their consideration."  The horror story of med-mal victims applies equally here as well as -most probably - every other country in the world with profit-oriented healthcare. Read Mess Up, which was written by an Australian victim.   She very accurately describes how the victim of med-mal becomes a victim of the justice system! [at the bottom of page 2 - victim 2]. The problem in worldwide.



-
20.  This lawsuit could not have taken place in Florida, because of the Wrongful Death Clause.  The victim was over 25 and there were no dependents under age 25.  Also the suit was filed 3 years  after death. In Florida, it must be filed within 2 years.

A jury has awarded more than $1.5 million to a family that sued Trinity Hospital and two heart doctors for medical malpractice.

Michele Eberle sued Trinity and Dr. Martin Rothberg, a heart surgeon, and Dr. Clarence Pearson, a cardiologist, in the death of her mother, Arlene Morlang, who died April 9, 1998, in Trinity Hospital.

The jury that heard the 8-1/2-day trial deliberated in Northwest District Court in Minot for about two days before reaching the verdict late Friday afternoon.

Trinity spokesman Randy Schwan said an appeal is being considered.

"We are disappointed and we are looking at other options at this point," he said. "We strongly felt and still do, the facts and the expert testimony given at the case supported our position."

Fargo attorney Wickham Corwin, who represented the family, said the jury did a thorough deliberation to reach the verdict.

"We are both very satisfied and very grateful," he said.

Morlang, 67, Minot, had visited Trinity's emergency room on March 28, 1998, where she was seen by Pearson. Rothberg performed single bypass surgery on March 31. Rothberg used a minimally invasive procedure, which the lawsuit claimed he was not experienced in.

The surgery went well, but 12 hours later, Morlang began having complications.

An issue before the jury was whether the connection between the bypass vessel and an artery had leaked and whether the blood found on autopsy in the chest cavity was related to her death or occurred after death.

In court records, Dr. John Smith, who performed the autopsy, determined that the cause of death was acute blood loss, of which the suspect source was the bypass connection.

Trinity physicians testified that diagnostic tests showed no leakage and no unusual accumulation of blood or fluid in the lungs or chest cavity. They stated there was blockage that was treated. They also stated the family's decision to begin paperwork on April 9 to move Morlang to another hospital rather than into intensive care contributed to her death.

The jury determined that Trinity and its doctors were 62.5 percent negligent and the family 37.5 percent negligent. It awarded about $114,210 to Morlang's estate and $800,000 in past and future economic damages and $600,000 in non-economic damages to the family.

Eberle, formerly of Devils Lake and now living in Virginia, filed the lawsuit in November 2001 on behalf of herself and three siblings in Minot.



 



21. This case [2 separate birth injuries by residents]  is interesting in that it shows the political clout of healtcare providers - again HCA-, who were able to get the Kansas legislature to pass retroactive law to protect them against compensating these victims of malpractice.  Here, at least, the court struck down the provision and allows the families to contnue their lawsuits for compensation of their damages.  One cannot help but wonder, just how much HCA "good government" money flowed above and below the table!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted on Tue, Mar. 23, 2004 


Court: Malpractice suits to proceed
A law that retroactively shielded a doctors' group and Wesley Medical Center from liability is declared unconstitutional.
BY RON SYLVESTER
The Wichita Eagle

The families of two injured children can proceed with their lawsuits against a resident doctors' education program and Wesley Medical Center after the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that a law unconstitutionally sheltered the health care providers.

The high court last week struck down a retroactive provision of the law, which would have protected Wesley and the Wichita Center for Graduate Medical Education from at least two pending lawsuits, ending three years of legal battles over the controversial legislation.

Families of the two injured girls have claimed that making the law retroactive was meant to sabotage their cases. One family says it needs $8 million, and the other, $20 million, for the lifelong care of the girls, who suffered brain injuries at birth.

According to court records, Kimberlyn Holt was born on July 30, 1998, at Wesley. Injuries during her birth left her with severe developmental disabilities. The family's case estimates Kimberlyn's lifetime medical care will reach $8 million.

Holt was born nine months after Ashley Raney-Neises, also born at Wesley, whose injuries sustained during delivery left her paralyzed from the neck down. Her lifelong care expenses are estimated at $20 million or more.

Both girls were delivered under the care of doctors during their residency training. Both families sued the doctors, whose insurance pays up to $1 million in liability.

The families also sued the nonprofit group that employs the residents for local hospitals.

Because Wesley had a contract with the doctors' group for the residents' services, the families argued that the hospital should be responsible for any negligence by the physicians during the deliveries of the girls.

After the lawsuits were filed, the doctors' group learned that it was not covered by the state agency that provides malpractice insurance for doctors and hospitals. That potentially exposed the doctors' group -- and Wesley -- for liability, if the residents were proven negligent.

In the final days of the 2001 legislative session, lawmakers passed a bill extending insurance coverage from the Kansas Healthcare Stabilization Fund to the residents' group. It also defined the doctors' program as a health care provider, shielding it from liability due to negligence by its doctors.

At the request of Wesley and the Wichita Center for Graduate Medical Education, the legislators made the law retroactive to July 1, 1997 -- four months before Ashley was born.

"The bill was literally introduced one day and passed the next," Greg Kite, the Holts' lawyer, wrote in his brief to the Supreme Court.

The Neises family failed in its efforts to have the Legislature reconsider the bill. But a series of court maneuvers sent the case to the state Supreme Court.

The high court's decision now allows both cases to proceed.

Wesley spokeswoman Helen Thomas said the hospitals' chief executive, its risk manager and its chief nursing officer were all on vacation this week and unavailable for comment.

John Gibson, Wesley's lawyer who argued the case to the Supreme Court, did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Penny Vogelsang, director of the Wichita Center for Graduate Medical Education, also did not return a phone call seeking comment.


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Reach Ron Sylvester at 268-6514 or rsylvester@wichitaeagle.com. 




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© 2004 The Wichita Eagle and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
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High court: Stillbirth can trigger malpractice lawsuit
April 01, 2004