Bohanon v. Family Health
Published: Apr. 25, 1998 | Result Date: Mar. 18, 1998 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: L006806 Verdict – $0
Judge
Court
Solano Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Barry Vogel
(La Follette Johson De Haas Fesler & Ames)
Experts
Plaintiff
David Rubin
(medical)
David Spitler
(medical)
Bryon Peterson
(medical)
David Moyal
(medical)
Defendant
Kenneth Cox
(medical)
Facts
On May 24, 1996, the plaintiff mother brought the seven-month-old Lashanti Perry to Sutter Solano County Medical Center because the child had been lethargic that day and perhaps for the preceding several days. The child was evaluated by the emergency room staff, including physician's assistant, David Moyal and the emergency room physician, Dr. David Spitler, Defendant Dr. Seturam Pandurangi was called in for a pediatric consultation. During the five hours the child was at the facility, an intravenous line was established and the child received fluids. An abdominal X-ray was taken, and blood studies and urine studies were ordered and received. The child produced a bloody, mucousy stool in the emergency room, but it was not witnessed by defendant Pandurangi. It was contended at trial that the bloody, mucously stool was actually what the medical literature refers to as a "currant jelly stool," one of the signs of intussusception, which is a telescoping of the bowel into itself. The child had a history of vomiting once prior to coming to the facility. Pandurangi's physical examination elicited no tenderness in the abdomen, and the child did not have the history of intense episodes of intermittent pain, one of the principal findings with intussusception. After Pandurangi examined the child, he opted to not admit the child to the hospital and have the child see her primary care physician the next morning. On the following morning, the child began vomitting a dark substance, and the mother called her primary care provider, a family planning clinic, and scheduled an appointment for 3:30 p.m. The child was seen by a physician at the clinic who took a history and examined the child and observed a bloody, mucousy stool in the child's diaper. She did not get any information from the mother about a history of dark vomiting, but she did learn that the child had vomitted since the night before. The clinic's physician obtained a copy of the hospital record from the night before, and, after reveiwing the record and seeing the patient, she recommended that the patient return in three days. The child died 90 minutes later. Autopsy revealed that the child had intussusception. The plaintiffs, the decedent's parents, brought this action against the defendant based on a negligence theory of recovery.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiffs made a settlement demand for $250,000, later reduced to $198,000. The defendant made a C.C.P. º998 offer of compromise for $49,000 and indicated a willingness to offer more.
Damages
The plaintiffs claimed $750,000 in damages.
Other Information
The family planning clinic settled prior to trial for $20,000.
Deliberation
two hours
Poll
10-2
Length
seven days
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