Articles - Medical Malpractice
Brain-damaged baby's mom sues Wesley, doctors ::
(11 18, 2005)
Wichita Eagle, The (KS)
February 2, 2001
Section: MAIN NEWS
Edition: main
Page: 1A
BY RON SYLVESTER
As Trya Shai Sims reached her second birthday Thursday - unable to walk, talk or play like others her age - three Wichita doctors and Wesley Medical Center faced a malpractice suit in federal court asking for $15 million to help care for the Missouri girl. Tyra's mother, Laconda White of Kansas City, claims her daughter may never be able to care for herself because doctors failed to give the woman medication she needed to stop early labor. White gave birth about a dozen weeks prematurely, which
The legal action was the latest in a rash of lawsuits to hit Wesley, which paid out more in medical malpractice claims last year than any other Wichita hospital.
None of the doctors - high-risk pregnancy specialists Margaret O'Hara and Scott Roberts and obstetrician Victoria Kindel - returned telephone calls Thursday to their offices at Associated Women's Health. Their lawyer, Randy Troutt, was out of town, his secretary said.
White's lawyer, Brad Prochaska of Wichita, said the doctors ignored pleas by their patient for Terbutaline, a drug that halted early labor in pregnancies before and since Tyra's birth. That neglect, Prochaska said, allowed White to give birth to Trya after only 24-28 weeks of pregnancy. Full-term pregnancy lasts 37-41 weeks.
White's other two children were carried to term and born healthy.
"This is like if you went to a doctor and said Advil never works on my headaches but Tylenol does, and the doctor says, 'No, we're going to give you Advil anyway,' " Prochaska said.
The two healthy babies were born in Topeka and Kansas City. In Wichita, the lawyer said, White experienced early labor for days before being transported by an ambulance to Wesley. The doctors then decided to have a medical resident deliver Tyra early. The girl has birth defects that include severe cerebral palsy.
"I don't understand why they did what they did," Prochaska said.
Terbutaline has been widely used in stopping early labor, although the Food and Drug Administration has yet to approve it for anything beyond treating asthma.
Babies delivered before 28 weeks rarely survive, but medical technology has made such births possible.
Wesley spokeswoman Susan Hickert said the hospital has seen startling outcomes with healthy premature births. But she said she could not comment Thursday without approval from HCA - the Healthcare Co., which owns the hospital.
Doctors who care for women during pregnancy and childbirth are among those at highest risk of being sued. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says those doctors can expect to be sued twice or more during their careers.
Brain-damaged babies, who can bring huge claims for the care and attention they need, account for one in three malpractice suits against obstetricians.
But the success rate is much lower. Less than 10 percent of malpractice claims paid off during the past decade because of obstetrics mistakes, according to figures from the National Practitioners Databank.
In Kansas, only 25 malpractice settlements, averaging less than $300,000, resulted from claims of mismanaged pregnancies.
Reach Ron Sylvester at 268-6514 or rsylvester@wichitaeagle.com
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