A jury awards a Tucson woman $12 million in a hospital error case

A jury decided, during the final week in October, that Tucson's Banner-University Medical Center, formerly known as the University of Arizona Health Network, should be held liable for a patient's permanent injuries. A Pima County jury decided that one of the medical residents at the hospital administered a life-altering amount of a dangerous drug. As a result, they awarded the 46-year-old brain dead mom $12 million in damages.

The plaintiff's conservator has described the woman as having been in a persistent vegetative state since Sept. 13, 2013, the day the woman came to the hospital's emergency room (ER). That afternoon she came there complaining of upper abdominal and back pain.

During the trial in the case, an attorney for the hospital system maintained that the woman didn't provide them with complete details about her health that could have potentially averted her suffering brain damage. One of the woman's children, a 26-year-old daughter, noted her mother gave accurate information though. She also testified that her mother trusted doctors to piece it all together and give her the best medical care possible.

The victim's attorney claims the woman received far less than that. He noted that the medical resident, attending to her in the ER, simply consulted with her primary physician about one aspect of her symptoms, her thinning blood. During the trial, the ER doctor testified that he administered the drug Profilnine to contain the bleeding without making an attempt to address the woman's complaints of pain.

Within two hours of the woman having been given Profilnine, the woman had reportedly developed several blood clots. She'd also suffered a heart attack. Those complications are believed to have cut the flow of oxygen to the woman's brain, resulting in significant damage to it.

Up until the jury awarded this latest multi-million dollar settlement, the woman had been being cared for by her family at home. A home health aid provided by Medicaid was provided to help out for four hours daily, five times a week. The family's attorney maintains that the settlement will now allow the woman to receive more dedicated care.

If the health of someone you love has declined due to some type of hospital or doctor error, then a Tucson medical malpractice attorney can advise you of your right to sue for lost wages and medical bills.

Source: Arizona Daily Star, "Tucson woman wins $12 million jury verdict against Banner-UMC in malpractice case," Stephanie Innes, Nov. 04, 2017