Facts

Victoria Duket, Terisa Wolfe, Geoffrey Duket, Troy Brewer and Julia Huhn, individually and as Guardian Ad Litem for Minor Kelsey Huhn sued the Fremont-Rideout Health Group dba Rideout Memorial Hospital, involving allegations of medical malpractice in connection with the death of 67-year-old Judy Duket.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS:
The decedent presented to the hospital on Oct. 12, 2008, where she was diagnosed with inflammation of the gallbladder and gallstones. She underwent gallbladder surgery. Thereafter, decedent suffered various complications, including small bowel injuries, adhesions, abdominal sepsis, and wound infections. She underwent further surgery and required a colostomy and multiple revision surgeries. In sum, the decedent was hospitalized for 13 months. Throughout her hospitalization, the decedent suffered from, inter alia, sepsis-related pneumonias, renal and pulmonary-respiratory failure, multi-organ failure and other conditions. The decedent succumbed to her injuries on Nov. 17, 2009. An autopsy indicated that she died from congestive heart failure. Her survivors sued the hospital alleging medical malpractice due to defendant's delayed diagnosis and elder abuse. Plaintiffs claimed that the decedent was frequently ignored by hospital staff, causing her conditions to worsen. Plaintiffs claimed there were other charting and documenting failures as well as cleaning deficiencies that showed negligence on the hospital's part. Overall, plaintiffs claimed that the heart condition she ultimately died from was caused by the hospital's negligence.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
The hospital denied plaintiffs' allegations, maintaining that the care rendered was within the standard of care at all times. Defendant also claimed that nothing that the staff did contributed to the decedent's demise. Defendant claimed the decedent died from multi-organ failure that was unrelated to the subject medical care.

Settlement Discussions

The plaintiffs demanded $4.2 million prior to trial, which was lowered to $1.5 million during jury deliberations. Defendant offered $100,000.

Damages

The decedent's survivors sought between $10 and $20 million in wrongful death plus punitive damages.

Injuries

The decedent died from a congestive heart failure.

Result

The jury rendered a verdict in favor of the defense.