Plaintiff v. Hospital and Surgeon

Facts: Plaintiff's decedent, age 27 and an employee of a defense contractor, went to the emergency room at the defendant hospital where he was diagnosed with appendicitis. The on call general surgeon responded and performed a successful appendectomy, with discharge anticipated by the following evening. Over the course of the next 2 days, decedent became extremely nauseated and developed symptoms including tachycardia (rapid heart rate). Nursing staff at the hospital failed to notify the attending surgeon during the night before the decedent's demise of very severe symptoms, strongly indicative of an impending pulmonary embolus. A battery of tests to diagnose a possible pulmonary embolus was not ordered until just before plaintiff arrested and expired the following morning.

Contentions: Plaintiff claimed that her deceased husband's symptoms clearly suggested that he might be developing clots, but that nothing was done in response to those symptoms. Plaintiff further alleged that the hospital staff violated the hospital's own rules in failing to notify the attending physician when the decedent became extremely tachycardic during the night before his death. The plaintiff was 27 years old when he died, survived by his wife of 8 years, but no children. The surviving wife claimed damages for wrongful death which included past and future economic damages of $1.8 million.

Trial Attorney for Plaintiff: James P. Carr

Opposing Counsel: Hospital was represented by Patrick J. Osborn of Clifford and Brown, and surgeon by John J. Jurich, of Patterson, Ritner, Lockwood, et al., both of Bakersfield.

Plaintiff’s Technical Expert: Delmar Aitken, M.D., General Surgery; Keith Stottlemyer, M.D., Pulmonology; Patricia Reigers, R.N., Nursing; Joyce Pickersgil, Ph.D., Economics.

Demand, Offer and Verdict:Plaintiff demanded $750,000 jointly to both defendants. Hospital offered $50,000. Verdict $2,024,691.