 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Hughes v. University Of Cincinnati Hospital9/7/2000
APPEAL from the Ohio Court of Claims.
This is an appeal by plaintiff, Cleola Hughes, from a judgment of the Ohio Court of Claims, rendered in favor of defendant, University of Cincinnati Hospital, on plaintiff's medical malpractice claim.
Plaintiff is the administratrix of the estate of Jacquelyn Myrick. On May 27, 1994, plaintiff's decedent, Myrick, was admitted to the University of Cincinnati Hospital. On June 21, 1994, Myrick sustained an anoxic brain injury; she died on November 1, 1994. On February 2, 1998, plaintiff filed a complaint in the Court of Claims against defendant, alleging that employees of defendant deviated from acceptable standards of care and acted in a negligent manner in their care and treatment of Myrick, including negligently intubating her.
Beginning on May 10, 1999, the matter was tried before the court on the sole issue of liability. The facts indicate that Myrick was diagnosed with a malignant thymoma (cancer of the thymus gland) in April 1992. She was thirty-six years of age at the time. Myrick received chemotherapy and radiation treatment for the cancer. Complications from the radiation treatment resulted in a serious scarring condition (bronchiectesis), requiring doctors to remove Myrick's entire left lung.
Myrick resided in Florida following the surgery, and during that time she began suffering from recurrent pleural effusions, an accumulation of fluid on the outside of her right lung. The fluid on Myrick's lung compressed her breathing to the point that, on various occasions, she had to be "intubated" and placed on a mechanical ventilator until the fluid could be removed.
Endotracheal intubation is a procedure in which an artificial airway is established by inserting a tube into the patient's trachea. The physician passes the tube through the patient's mouth (or less frequently through the nose) into the back of the throat area, beyond the laryngeal structures and vocal cords, and into the trachea. Once the tube is placed in position, a "cuff" (a small balloon on the distal end of the tube) is inflated to secure the airway and to keep the tube from being displaced.
Because of her progressive respiratory failure, Myrick returned to Cincinnati to consult with physicians regarding her condition. Myrick was hospitalized in April 1994 at the University of Cincinnati Hospital because of increased shortness of breath. She was transported to the emergency room and intubated. Fluid was drawn off of her chest, and she was "extubated" within a day or two and then discharged.
Due to a continuing buildup of fluid, doctors attempted to treat Myrick by a procedure termed "chemical pleurodesis," in which a sclerosing agent is introduced into the area of the outside lungs and ribs. The purpose of the procedure is to cause a union between the two layers of pleura to prevent the re-accumulation of fluid in the pleural space. This procedure proved to be unsuccessful.
In May 1994, a "decortication" procedure was performed, in which the pleural lining of Myrick's lung was removed. Following this procedure, Myrick received oxygen from a ventilator for several days. On June 18, 1994, Myrick was transferred to the hospital's medical step-down unit. At the time she was transferred, Myrick was still experiencing breathing problems, and she received oxygen through a BiPAP (bilevel positive airway pressure) device.
On June 21, 1994, at approximately 11:00 a.m., Myrick's pulse-rate was recorded at one hundred thirty. By 2:00 p.m., her respiratory rate rose to forty. At 3:00 p.m., it was reported that Myrick was complaining of shortness of breath, and her oxygen saturation rate was b
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ohio Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|