Nature of the Case
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Facts
P suffered a hypoglycemic event that caused her to run her car into a utility pole at approximately 45 m.p.h. P was given a neurological assessment upon arrival, at around 4:00 p.m., and a computerized tomography scan of her brain about an hour later. The results were normal. P reported and was observed to have neurological symptoms, including being wobbly on her feet and having severe pain after being administered pain medication. Dr. Grantham informed Ps' son that he would carry out another neurological assessment before discharging her. He did not. Instead, he prescribed a narcotic, Darvocet, and sent P home with her husband. At that point, P could not walk herself to or from the car and had to be carried to bed by her husband when they arrived home. Ps were not given discharge instructions that included specific information about head injuries. P was again transported by ambulance because she remained very lethargic through the night. By around 9:30 a.m., P was diagnosed as having a stroke. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination, performed shortly after 9:30 a.m., confirmed that P was having a stroke. Dr. Dawson did not provide any anticoagulant or antithrombotic treatment or therapy. Around 11:30 a.m. she was transferred to the intermediate care unit, under the care of Dr. Brooks Watson. P tried to get Dr. Dawson and then, after her transfer, Dr. Watson to order a CT angiogram. It was not done until 2:30 p.m., after P's sons had Dr. Watson repeatedly paged. Then, although the results were available at 3:27 p.m., Dr. Watson was not located or informed until 4:50 p.m. that the CT angiogram showed a dissected carotid artery. He still did not order anyone to administer anticoagulant therapy, antiplatelet agents, or any other treatment. Dr. Watson had prescribed aspirin around 2:00 p.m. but did not order its immediate administration. Only shortly before her transport at 6:00 p.m. was P finally given aspirin, though it had to be administered in suppository form because, by then, she could no longer swallow. P is now permanently brain damaged. P sued claiming negligent treatment, far below the recognized standard of care. The doctors' negligence substantially diminished her chance of recovery and that, with nonnegligent care, her disability could have been lessened or altogether avoided. P presented the family's testimony, including her two sons who are doctors, and the testimony of two other doctors, Kyra Becker and A. Basil Harris. The court granted summary judgment for Ds on the basis that the Mohrs did not show “but for” causation.
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