A woman claiming to have sustained a permanent debilitating disorder, due to the neglect of her doctor in not performing a surgery in a timely manner, has gained her $1.5 million in a medical malpractice award, as reported by the News and Tribune in Clark County.
M.W.F., 30, of New Albany, suffers with short gut syndrome. A Clark County jury found that her surgeon, Dr. W.H.G III, was liable as he had caused the removal of most of her small intestine in 2003.
M.W.F. was 21 at the time she entered the Floyd Memorial Hospital and Health Services with a chief complaint of abdominal pain on June 5, 2003. Sometime after noon that day she met with Dr. W.H.G III for a surgical consultation.
Pete Palmer, M.W.F.’s attorney, said that during the initial consultation Dr. W.H.G III deemed that surgery was necessary and scheduled M.W.F. for the following day.
The morning of the planned surgery, however, Dr. W.H.G III decided against doing the procedure – allegedly due to new information.
Palmer said, “After changing his mind to operate, he then went out of town for the weekend and did not procure any surgical coverage.”
But two days later, by June 8, 2003, M.W.F.’s conditioned had worsened. Another surgeon was called in to perform her surgery, because, as Palmer contended, she would have died. At 2:30 a.m. on June 8 M.W.F. had the surgery.
Palmer further claimed that his client suffered with ischemic bowel disease, commonly referred to as “dead bowel”, and that without surgery she would have lost the entire bowel. Palmer said, “We argued the standard of care in the medical community says you either need to operate in a timely fashion, or if you don’t believe operating is the best option at a particular time, you need to continue to follow that patient. It’s not enough to just say no operation.”
Michele Bryant, the attorney representing Dr. W.H.G III, argued that whether her client was present or not, the argument to perform surgery may not have been indicated. Bryant said, “All of her physicians that were caring for her at the time did not think she was exhibiting any signs of anything other than kidney infection.”
Bryant said that Dr. W.H.G III turned M.W.F. over to the care of a urologist before he left town and he also had another physician on call for him.
Three doctors, in an independent group working with the Indiana Malpractice Review System, deemed that the case should proceed. The suit was filed in Floyd County Circuit Court. The trial lasted four days. The award was granted at $1.4 million but lessened to the state’s medical malpractice cap of $1.25 million.
M.W.F. is on daily medication, suffers with bloating, finds it impossible to work and constantly feels weakened as her intestines – smaller now – cause her metabolism to increase. Her food is digested far too quickly to give her the nutrition she needs for daily activities.
Imagine being harmed instead of helped while under the care of a physician. If this has happened to you, or someone you hold dear, contact a medical malpractice attorney to discuss your case.