Facts

A medical malpractice lawsuit was filed against the doctors and healthcare facilities alleging failure to diagnose a small bowel obstruction in a child's small intestine, resulting in the liquification of the child's intestine.

According to the child's parents, doctors at Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center repeatedly treated their son with morphine and enemas instead of recognizing the seriousness of a small bowel obstruction and performing emergency surgery. Once the child was transferred to Renown Regional Medical Center, the attending physician recognized and diagnosed the obstruction and contacted the child's surgeon. The child's surgeon opted to wait to perform surgery for eight hours. At the time of surgery, a large potion of the child's small bowel was necrotic and removed. The child's patents allege the bowel condition has complicated the child's treatment for cystic fibrosis.

Result

The jury failed to find any of the treatment the child received fell below the appropriate standard of care and awarded no damages to plaintiffs.