Hospital, doctors win medical-malpractice trial

A St. Louis jury returned a defense verdict in a case brought by the daughter of a woman who died less than two weeks after seeking treatment at an emergency room. The plaintiff alleged the woman had a fungal infection and if doctors had admitted her to the hospital, they could’ve prevented its spread before it overwhelmed her system.

The defense countered that such an infection, called mucormycosis, was extremely rare and wouldn’t be among the standard things for emergency doctors to consider in a patient who appeared with symptoms of dehydration and high blood sugar.

“There’s no way anybody would suspect she had a fungal infection in the emergency room,” said defense attorney Robert Rosenthal, of Brown & James in St. Louis. He added that she might not even have had the infection at that time.

“Everything she had fit into a patient who was on a high dose of steroids and had become dehydrated,” he said.

The woman was taking a prescription steroid at the time for an ear problem, he said, which could have caused the spike in her blood-sugar levels. But a patient can’t suddenly stop taking a steroid without serious consequences, so it was better for her regular doctor, familiar with her health history, to decide what to do, he said.

The medical staff treated the patient, Shirley Moses, with fluids, brought down her blood sugar levels and assured she was stable before discharging her in September 2006, Rosenthal said.

He represented Washington University, as the woman went to the Barnes-Jewish Hospital ER, as well as the emergency room doctors who saw her, David Seltzer and Randall Howell.

Moses followed up with her ear doctor and her regular physician after the ER visit, as instructed, and they also found her blood-sugar levels had dropped and didn’t think she needed to be admitted to a hospital, Rosenthal said. Mucormycosis is a fast-acting fungus, and people with weakened immune systems are more susceptible to it, he said.

About a week after the ER visit, Moses saw her eye doctor and then went to another hospital and was admitted, went into a coma and died a few days later, he said. The defendants contended they did nothing wrong and that admitting her to the hospital on her first visit wouldn’t have changed the outcome anyway. After more than a week of trial, the jury ruled in their favor.

Mark McCloskey, an attorney for Moses’ daughter, Christina Scott, said the case was tough because the woman was already in poor health and the fungal infection was unusual.

“Our argument was they should’ve done more,” he said, adding later, “It was a long shot at best.”

The judge considered and rejected a motion seeking a new trial in April.

■ Defense verdict

Medical malpractice

■ Venue: St. Louis Circuit Court

■ Case Number/Date: 1122-CC01546/Feb. 7, 2012

■ Judge: Margaret Neill

■ Plaintiff’s Experts: Dr. Larry Rumans, Tucson, Ariz. (infectious disease); Dr. Eugene Saltzberg, Libertyville, Ill. (emergency medicine)

■ Defendants’ Experts: Dr. Bryan Simmons, Memphis, Tenn. (infectious disease); Dr. Sukhjit Takhar, Boston (emergency medicine, infectious disease); Dr. Joseph Berger, Lexington, Ky. (neurology); Dr. Mark Cohen, Cleveland (neuropathology)

■ Last Pretrial Demand: $260,000

■ Last Pretrial Offer: $100,000

Caption: Christina Scott, daughter of Shirley Moses, deceased v. Washington University, David Seltzer, M.D., and Randall A. Howell, D.O.

Plaintiff’s Attorneys: Mark McCloskey and Patricia McCloskey, McCloskey PC, St. Louis

Defendants’ Attorneys: Robert Rosenthal
and Laurie Wright, Brown & James, St. Louis