$800,000 Verdict; $1.2 Million Settlement

The minor child and husband of Mary Jo Owens, 23, brought a medical malpractice suit after Owns died of a cardiac arrhythmia induced by severe hypo-kalemia low potassium in February 1999. She had been to the emergency room four times and to the residency clinic of Freeman Hospital with complaints of vomiting and diarrhea.

On her visit to the residency clinic five days before her death, Owens complained of increasing weakness, right upper quadrant pain and continued vomiting and diarrhea. Dr. John Dougherty, the clinic supervisor, ordered routine blood tests, which revealed a severe and prolonged depletion of potassium. The doctor claimed that he never saw the lab test results, which the hospital lab technician said had been faxed to his office. Owens was never advised of her severe hypokalemia.

The plaintiffs claimed Owens should have been admitted to the hospital for STAT lab work, rather than routine blood tests, to determine the cause of the vomiting and diarrhea. They also claimed the doctor should have followed up on the tests he did order.

The doctor argued that Owens' clinical visit showed she was improving and, since she was no longer having vomiting and diarrhea, the lab tests were appropriate. The doctor also claimed the autopsy revealed a 70 percent occlusion of the anterior descending valve, which he said contributed to her death.

The jury awarded $330,000 in economic damages and $470,000 in non-economic damages against Dr. Dougherty after a five-day trial. The emergency room, hospital and lab technician settled before trial for $1.2 million for a total recovery of $2 million.

Type of Action: Medical malpractice

Type of Injuries: Death

Court/Case Number/Date: Jasper County Circuit Court/CV199-1369CC/April 23, 2001

Caption: Owens v. Freeman Hospital, et al.

Judge, Jury or ADR: Jury

Name of Judge: Jon Dermott

Verdict or Settlement: $800,000 verdict; $1.2 million settlement

Special Damages: $330,000 economic damages (household services, funeral expenses)

Allocation of Fault: 100 percent to defendant Dougherty

Last Offer: $50,000 (by Dougherty)

Last Demand: $300,000

Attorneys for Plaintiff: Roger Johnson, Glenn Gulick and Scott Vorhees, Hershewe & Gulick, Joplin

Insurance Carrier: Medical Assurance (for Dougherty); Missouri Hospital Plan (for other defendants)

Plaintiff's Experts: Dr. Shane Bennoch, Ash Grove (family medicine); Dr. Nathan Brautbar, Los Angeles (internal medicine); Dr. Paul Bronston, Los Angeles (emergency medicine); Tom Ireland, St. Louis (economist); Dr. Philip Totemelly, New York (cardiologist); Clifford Whipple, Springfield (death and dying)

Defendant's Experts: Dr. Robert Mannine, Palm Beach, Fla. (family medicine); Dr. John Yanos, Columbia (family medicine)