The family of an Orange City woman who died while receiving a CT scan at a health center three years ago has been awarded a $29.5 million verdict.
A Sioux County jury awarded the verdict Wednesday to the family of 40-year-old Carrie DeJongh, who died on June 9, 2015, at the Sioux Center Community Health Center.
DeJongh was at the center to receive a CT scan. She had an allergic reaction to the contrast dye given to her for the scan and went into anaphylactic shock and lost consciousness, said one of her attorneys, Nicholas Rowley.
Roy Slice, the doctor administering the scan, gave DeJongh Benadryl, but failed to immediately take her vital signs and did not administer epinephrine, which could have reversed her anaphylactic shock, Rowley said.
In its verdict, the jury said Slice was negligent and that his negligence caused damage to the plaintiffs — DeJongh’s surviving husband and four children.
They awarded $1.5 million in damages for DeJong’s pre-death pain and suffering, $5.5 million to each of DeJongh’s children for loss of parental consortium, and $6 million to DeJongh’s husband for loss of spousal consortium.
“The family is so thankful that the jury discovered the truth of what really happened,” Rowley said.
“No amount of money is ever going to bring her back, but a verdict like this will make sure that medical providers in the future don’t let something like this happen again,” he added.
Iowa Board of Medicine records show Slice has never faced public discipline.
Rowley said he believes the verdict will be upheld if it is appealed.
An attorney representing Slice and Sioux Center Community Health did not immediately return phone and email messages seeking comment.
Iowa enacted a law last year limiting medical malpractice suits in part by placing caps on non-economic damages, like pain and suffering, that can be recovered in those suits. The limits do not apply in cases of death, however.
Published by Stephen Gruber-Miller,
Des Moines Register
June 14, 2018
Modern Healthcare