|
Who said what to whom and when? Those were the
big questions the three defendants could not answer. Exactly how
this tragedy occurred will never be known for certain, but the
case theme was clear - the health care team dropped the ball,
communication was terrible all around, and no one's story made
sense. Each of the defendants eventually contributed toward the
total settlement of $1,600,000. Vic Bergman and Steve Six represented
our client. Gary (last name withheld) went to a Wichita Hospital
on the morning of August 12, 1996 for a carotid endarterectomy
procedure, by a vascular surgeon, to remove atherosclerotic plaque from his right carotid artery. The
|
surgery went well enough, and Gary
was sent to the recovery room for observation. The recovery room
nurse did a detailed assessment, and found that Gary's left arm
was weak, with abnormal sensation. The anesthesiologist on call
assessed Gary for discharge from the recovery room and, seeing
nothing abnormal, transferred him to the Surgical Intensive Care
Unit (SICU). On admission to the SICU the nurse recorded that
Gary still had the left upper extremity numbness and sensory deficit,
but he also had a number of new neurologic deficits. Gary's mental
status had slipped from drowsy to lethargic, he developed slurred
speech, and his weakness now extended to the left leg; and later
in the day he developed a change in pupil size and his eyes looked
in different directions. Finally, at three o'clock in the morning
- more than 16 hours after the first observation of the neurologic
abnormalities - direct communication between an SICU nurse and
the vascular surgeon was documented for the first time. A CT scan
of the brain was obtained rapidly, which demonstrated that a massive
completed stroke had occurred and it was too late to do anything.
The medical evidence established that when a stroke occurs after
a carotid endarterectomy procedure it can be treated with a high
likelihood of success within the first four hours or so after
the onset of symptoms. With timely
|
treatment, the chance for avoiding
significant neurologic injury is very high, greater than 60%,
and even higher in a number of studies. Two vascular surgeons
who gave depositions for the plaintiff said that Gary's injury
would likely have been prevented had there been communication
among the members of the health care team during the first hours
after the onset of the symptoms, when surgical re-exploration
could still have been performed. There was no question that the
post-operative neurologic symptoms occurred, be-cause they were
documented, but the tes-timony by the various healthcare providers
|
|
Shamberg,
Johnson &
Bergman
John E. Shamberg
Lynn R. Johnson
Victor A. Bergman
John M. Parisi
Steven G. Brown
Stephen N. Six
Stephen R. Bough
Ann E. Agnew
4551 West 107th Street, Suite
355
Overland Park, KS 66207
913-642-0600
One Security Plaza
Suite M - 4
Kansas City, KS 66101
Scarritt Arcade Building
819 Walnut Street, Suite 205
Kansas City, MO 64106
www.sjblaw.com
|
|
Referral
Relationships
We
welcome referrals or will associate with you and we will
be onsiderate of your relationship with
your client.
We return
referral fees in accordance with the rules of professional
conduct.
Our goal
is to maximize
results for you
and your client.
|
|
