Denisa Jennison and Robert Jennison v. Providence St. Vincent's Medical Center, David Nunez, and David Cook
Published: Jan. 1, 2000 | Result Date: Feb. 5, 1999 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: 970100543 Verdict – $17,774,000
Judge
Court
Washington District
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Robert M. Keating
(Keating, Jones & Hughes PC)
Experts
Plaintiff
Gary Stimac
(medical)
Robert Zierler
(medical)
David T. Rollins
(technical)
Mika Sinanan
(medical)
Paul Collier
(medical)
William Nellis
(medical)
Alan Lisbon
(medical)
George Frank
(medical)
Lowell Bassett
(technical)
Facts
On May 11, 1997, the plaintiff, Chris Jennison, a 45-year-old manager, was admitted to defendant, St. Vincent's Medical Center, complaining of abdominal pain. A number of routine tests were performed and an exploratory surgery was scheduled for May 17, 1996. The surgeon in charge of her care was the defendant Dr. David Cook. During the surgery, while she was under a general anesthetic, the defendant anesthesiologist Dr. David Nunez, inserted a central venous catheter in her neck. The insertion of central catheter is a routine procedure that allows access to the vascular system to provide fluid and medication. During the procedure, the defendant anesthesiologist inserted the catheter too far so that the tip of the catheter extended into the right atrium of the heart. One of the known complications of using a central line is that the central line is placed in too far and gets into the body of the heart. This raises a concern that the tip of the catheter can puncture the heart wall and get into the pericardial sac. Because of this, the defendant hospital had a procedure that requires x-ray confirmation of the location of the central line within 30 to 60 minutes of the patient leaving the operating room. In this instance, the x-ray was taken within 30 minutes of Chris Jennison leaving the operating room. The procedure in place required that the on duty radiologist "stat" read the x-ray and report the results to the nurses caring for Chris Jennison. For whatever reason, the x-ray taken of Chris Jennison's chest, which showed that the catheter tip was in too far, was either not read, the results of the x-ray were not transmitted to the nursing staff, or the nursing staff failed to act on the report if they in fact received it. If the nursing staff were told that the catheter was in too far, they were supposed to contact a physician to pull the catheter tip back. In this instance, this information was not communicated to the physicians in charge of Chris Jennison's care. Another safety procedure that was in effect at the defendant hospital was that the nurses were not to insert fluids through the central line until they received x-ray confirmation that it was in the appropriate place. All of the nurses involved with Chris Jennison's care denied ever using the central line. Around 5 p.m., Chris Jennison continued to complain of pain. An epidural was performed and Chris Jennison's blood pressure dropped to critical levels. The defendant doctor came to the bedside at approximately 5:45 p.m. He then went to the radiology department and saw that the catheter tip was in too far. The resident who was being supervised by the defendant doctor pulled the catheter tip back. Chris Jennison's blood pressure remained critically low for the next two hours and 50 minutes. At 8:50 p.m., Chris Jennison had a cardiac arrest. An echocardiogram was performed after she began suffering from the arrest. The echocardiogram showed that the sac surrounding the heart was full of fluid in effect crushing the heart. This condition is called "cardiac tamponade." A needle was inserted into the pericardial sac and the fluid was removed. The fluid removed from the pericardial sac was IV fluid. The only time that the IV fluid which was found in the pericardial sac was being administered was during the time she was in the recovery room. The nurses in the recovery room denied ever using the central line and stated that they infused this IV fluid through a peripheral line in Chris Jennison's arm. The defendant doctor, the supervising surgeon, testified that he considered cardiac tamponade at 6 p.m., two hours and 50 minutes before her arrest. However, it was low on his differential diagnosis and, therefore, he did not perform a non-evasive echocardiogram to rule out this condition.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiff_ made a C.C.P. º998 settlement demand for $ ______________. The defendant_ made a C.C.P. º998 offer of compromise for $ ________________.
Damages
Claimed economic damages approached $6,000,000. The plaintiffs asked for a total award of behalf of Mrs. Jennison of $15,774,000. This represented economic loss plus $10,000,000 in general damages. In addition, plaintiffs requested an award of $2,000,000 to Mr. Jennison for loss of consortium.
Injuries
The plaintiff suffered severe brain damage. She has basically no memory, cannot remember how many siblings she has or where she went to high school.
Result
PLEASE PROVIDE THE CITY OF LOCALE OF EXPERTS: Robert Zierler ___________________ , Mika Sinanan _______________ , Alan Lisbon ______________ , William Nellis _________________ , George Frank _____________ , David Rollins _____________, Paul Collier ______________, Gary Stimac ______________ PLEASE PROVIDE THE COURT OF VENUE FROM PORTLAND __________________
Other Information
The verdict was reached approximately two years after the case was filed. A settlement was reached with one of the defendant physicians for policy limits of $1,000,000. The jury found in favor of the defendant physician
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