Articles - Medical Malpractice
Second lawsuit targets Wesley ER practices ::
(11 16, 2005)
Tuesday, Sep. 23, 2003
BY RON SYLVESTER
A Wichita family whose mother's illness rallied a community to its aid is suing Wesley Medical Center for malpractice and wrongful death.
The Trimmell family's lawsuit, filed late last week in Sedgwick County District Court, is the second in as many years complaining of how Wesley's Emergency Department handled a patient.
In the lawsuit against Wesley and three doctors, William Trimmell says he owes more than $1 million in medical bills that are still accumulating. Wesley officials declined to comment.
Last year, Wesley paid a $375,000 out-of-court settlement to the family of Richard Lee, according to public information from the Kansas Health Care Stabilization Fund. Lee, 55, died in 2000 from a heart attack after waiting more than an hour for treatment.
The latest lawsuit claims 34-year-old Shawna Trimmell woke up her husband in September 2001, complaining of pain and trouble breathing. Her husband took her to Wesley.
The suit said the doctors relied on the information taken by the nurse: "They ignored her symptoms of pneumonia and instead diagnosed her with a shoulder problem," the suit says.
William Trimmell said doctors sent Shawna home. By the next day, he said, she could barely walk. Her symptoms worsened. He took her back to Wesley, where she was admitted. She died several weeks later.
"Her pneumonia had worsened so much during the last 27 hours that her condition went from curable to incuarble," the court complaint states.
Trimmell hired Brad Prochaska, the same lawyer who handled the Lee family's case.
Between Thanksgiving and Christmas 2001, Wichita residents sent money to help Trimmell and his young son pay their rent, car payment and utility bills after he took off work to watch over his wife at Wesley.
Trimmell received help after his story appeared in The Eagle as a part of Share the Season, and annual campaign to raise money for people facing adversity.
7701 E. Kellogg Suite 415 Wichita, KS 67207-1709