Terry Donaldson, Brent and Matthew Jones, et al. v. Richard Wagner, M.D.
Published: Mar. 12, 1994 | Result Date: Feb. 24, 1994 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: 120238 – $1,665,000
Judge
Court
Ventura Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Experts
Plaintiff
Richard Witten
(medical)
Hideo Itabashi
(medical)
Raymond G. Schultz
(technical)
David Barcay M.D.
(medical)
Steven L. Giannotta
(medical)
Defendant
Arnold Starr
(medical)
John B. Doyle Jr.
(medical)
Richard Viglotti
(medical)
Facts
Karen Donaldson, a 36-year-old preschool teacher, was at home with her husband in the late evening on November 10, 1990, and was sharing a marijuana cigarette when she suffered a seizure. This was her first experience with a seizure. Her husband took her to the Simi Valley Adventist Hospital where she was seen by Defendant Richard Wagner, M.D., an emergency room physician, at 1:15 a.m. on November 11, 1990. The record indicated only one visit to the emergency room, although the doctor claimed that he repeatedly visited the patient over the next 3 hours. Her symptoms included headache, nausea, and vomiting. Plaintiffs alleged that she had an aneurysm which had leaked and that she should have been subjected to a CT scan and a lumbar puncture. The emergency room log showed a significant flow of patients at or about that time. The husband claimed that, while he waited in the emergency room with his wife after 1:15 a.m., he did not see the physician at any time. The patient was discharged before any lab work, which had been ordered, was printed. The doctor testified that the lab results were received by phone before the patient was discharged from the emergency room. The patient was discharged to see a family practitioner on the ER panel the next day. The aftercare instructions were given to the patient by a nurse; these instructions did not include the impression or reason for the visit since the physician had not placed such an impression on the ER chart. The emergency room record stated, "Rule out seizure disorder," as the impression. The patient saw a family practitioner, not a party to this case, the next day; he ordered an electroencephalogram. There were clerical problems in obtaining the results. The family practitioner referred the patient to a neurologist, also not a party to this case, who was seen on December 6, 1990. The neurologist ordered an MRI, which was to be performed on December 15, 1990. On December 14, 1990, while at home, the patient suffered a second seizure and was taken to Simi Valley Adventist Hospital with a massive intraventricular bleed which resulted in her death on December 16, 1990. The hospital records repeatedly gave an impression of a ruptured cerebral aneurysm. The Ventura County Coroner was not notified about the case. The hospital pathologist, who did 5-6 autopsies in 1991, went to the mortuary alone to do the autopsy. He took no pictures, claimed to have thrown away his notes, lost the brain, dictated his autopsy report one month later, and diagnosed an arterial-venous malformation of the choroid plexus as the cause of death; he had never before seen an AVM of the choroid plexus.
Settlement Discussions
Plaintiffs contend their statutory demand was $1,000,000 in May of 1992 reduced to $250,000 in July of 1993; and Defendant made no offer.
Specials in Evidence
$42,000 $266,000
Injuries
Wrongful death of spouse, mother.
Result
By special verdict, for loss of love, comfort, society and companionship, the jury awarded $150,000 in past damages and $350,000 in future damages. For loss of earnings, the jury awarded $45,000 past earnings and $391,000 future earnings; for domestic services, it awarded $29,000 past and $700,000 future.
Deliberation
6 hours
Poll
9-3 negligence, 11-1 causation, 12-0 damages
Length
8 days
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