Greenwood Leflore Hospital is appealing a $474,000 judgment in favor of a woman who filed a malpractice lawsuit over complications from surgery.
Leflore County Circuit Court Judge Carol White-Richard issued the ruling following a bench trial on Feb. 15. The suit, which is one side of a legal argument, originally was filed in 2018 by Jacqueline Moore.
Court documents said that on Feb. 17, 2017, Moore went to GLH to have a loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP), which White-Richard said involves a wire heated by electrical current into the vagina. The purpose is to remove abnormal tissue that will be tested for infection or cancer. Dr. Lorie McNeal, a gynecologist employed by GLH, performed Moore’s procedure.
In her original lawsuit, Moore said she began experiencing heavy vaginal bleeding after surgery and returned to the hospital, where she was treated by Dr. McNeal and Dr. James Hardin, a urologist.
Her lawsuit said that two days after surgery, she developed urine leakage around her catheter and received subsequent treatments in Oxford, where those treating her determined she had developed a vesicovaginal fistula. A fistula is an abnormal connection between two body parts.
Over the following months, Moore had to go through more procedures, but the fistula and subsequent leakage persisted.
She alleged in her lawsuit that the doctors employed by GLH were negligent and that the hospital was vicariously liable.
In its defense, the hospital argued that all medical care done by it and its employees “was provided in compliance with applicable standards of care” and that it was not guilty of any negligence.
White-Richard’s ruling said that following Moore’s initial return to the hospital following surgery, Dr. Hardin discovered that a suture installed by Dr. McNeal to stop the post-operative bleeding had pierced Moore’s bladder. Following an examination, Hardin decided to keep the suture in place and install a catheter.
White-Richard said in her ruling that the sole issue was whether Hardin “breached the standard of care” by not removing the suture.
During his testimony, Hardin said he decided to leave the suture in place because he determined the bladder was intact and not bleeding. “He testified that if he had attempted to remove the suture, it could have led to renewed bleeding and/or a major surgery if the bladder had torn if he were to remove the suture,” White-Richard said.
An expert witness for Moore, Dr. William Duncan, testified that the failure to remove the suture “violated the standard of care and caused and/or proximately caused the fistula.”
An expert witness for the hospital, Dr. Walter Rayford, countered that “it was much more likely that the fistula was a result of excessive cauterization techniques that were used to control the post-operative bleeding” and that the effects of such techniques are usually seen within two to five days after a procedure.
Duncan also testified that the risk of development of the fistula far outweighed the risk of renewed bleeding.
White-Richard agreed with that analysis when ruling in favor of Moore. She wrote that if the suture had been removed and bleeding resumed, Moore was already at the hospital under the care of McNeal and Hardin and could have been treated.
“This option would have been better than allowing the fistula to develop and become even larger without any medical intervention,” she said.
She said that Moore’s unique medical history made it more urgent the suture be removed to avoid further compromise of “an already fragile environment.”
“While this Court does note that all doctors must use medical judgment, that medical judgment and/or risk assessment must consider the specific patient’s history and overall condition,” she wrote.
The hospital has asked for an altered or amended judgment or a new trial. It said in its motion that Dr. Duncan’s testimony should be excluded for containing “erroneously admitted opinions” and that the judgment is “against the overwhelming weight of the evidence.”
No decision has been rendered on the hospital’s request.
- Contact Kevin Edwards at 662-581-7233 or kedwards@gwcommonwealth.com.
