Bonnie Terry, Patricia Terry, Richard Terry, Nicholas Terry, a minor, v. Mercy Hospital of Folsom, Byong Pak
Published: Jul. 9, 2005 | Result Date: Dec. 6, 2004 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: 02AS00885 Verdict – $0
Judge
Court
Sacramento Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Ricardo A. Martinez
(McNamara,Ney,Beatty,Slattery,Borges & Ambacher LLP)
Experts
Plaintiff
Van Buren Ross Lemons
(medical)
Hugh H. West
(medical)
Defendant
Alan Gelb
(medical)
Grant Gauger
(medical)
Facts
On April 17, 2001, Richard Terry, a 52-year-old videographer, was filming a news segment about the use of goats in fire prevention. At 5:50 p.m., he tripped over the fence containing the goats and struck his left eye on a plastic stake. He was immediately evaluated by two fire department personnel who called the paramedics. The paramedics arrived at 6:20 p.m., but Terry's co-worker drove him to Mercy Hospital of Folsom after filming was completed. Terry arrived at the hospital at 6:55 p.m. He was found to be completely alert, oriented and responsive. A floor nurse found him to be stable with ecchymosis and a puncture wound to his left eye, complaints of pain and blurred vision. The nurse documented no conjugate gaze, "delirious" and "hallucinating?" after he observed Terry describe something that was not in the examination room. He was otherwise stable with a Glasgow score of 15. Dr. Byong Pak, an emergency room physician, began his 15-minute exam at 7:05 p.m. At 7:20 p.m., Pak ordered an orbit CT scan. At 7:45 p.m., Terry was walked to the eye chart and had slight dizziness, but was otherwise stable until 8:16 p.m. when he was taken for the CT scan. He returned at 8:45 p.m. and vomited. At 8:50 p.m., Pak read the CT and thought it showed a possible intracerebral hemorrhage. He called the University of California Davis Medical Center to arrange a transfer because the hospital had no neurosurgical capabilities. Terry's head CT scan was completed at 9:20 p.m. At 9:36 p.m., Pak ordered Mannitol for possible increased intracranial pressure, Dilantin for possible seizures, morphine for pain and antibiotics. The Mannitol and morphine were held at the request of a UC Davis neurosurgeon. At 9:55 p.m., Terry became incontinent and the head CT showed bifrontal intracerebral and subarachnoid hemorrhages, and a significant mass effect in the right frontoparietal region with leftward midline shift that suggested herniation. At 10:08 p.m., Terry's speech became unintelligible and by 10:30 p.m., he could no longer communicate. The transport crew arrived at 10:30 p.m., and Terry left at 10:50 p.m. He arrived at UC Davis at 11:09 p.m. He underwent brain surgery at 12:30 a.m. on April 18. Terry died on April 23 after being comatose for almost a week following brain surgery.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiffs made a C.C.P. Section 998 demand of $949,000. Pak's offer was the dismissal for waiver of costs (C.C.P. Section 998).
Damages
The plaintiffs sought compensatory damages of $1.4 million, which included past and future wages and earning capacity based on Terry's annual salary of $54,000. Medical expenses were covered by insurance.
Injuries
The plaintiffs' experts testified that he sustained a partial penetrating injury to the brain involving the frontal lobe and anterior cerebral artery or a branch of that vessel. They opined that Terry would have survived with minimal to no residual disability if he had not been deprived of timely transfer and surgery before he lapsed into a coma. The defense expert testified that Terry suffered a violent and fatal injury of the entire brain because the projectile entered at the roof of the orbit and traveled along a path involving both hemispheres of the brain, then exited and struck the back of the skull. This produced a subdural hematoma. The expert also stated that the tremendous damage caused by the primary intrinsic injury would have produced a cascade of biochemical changes and secondary injury far beyond what was visible on the CT scan. Thus, the defense expert opined that Terry could not have survived the original injury under any circumstances, and any question of residual disability was moot.
Result
The jury returned a defense verdict in Pak's favor.
Deliberation
four hours
Poll
12-0
Length
10 days
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