In a civil trial in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, the estate of a Columbiana County man has been awarded $7 million by a jury.
The jury held Alteon Health LLC. and a doctor, whose records indicate is now in West Virginia, responsible for the wrongful death of a 53-year-old Columbiana County man who passed away two days after receiving treatment at St. Elizabeth Health Center's emergency room on May 23, 2020.
The trial, presided over by a visiting judge and commencing on October 10, culminated in the jury's verdict. Alteon Health, a group practice with an office in Columbus, had merged with U.S. Acute Care Solutions in February 2022. The implicated doctor was employed by Alteon Health at the time of the man's death.
The original lawsuit initially named Mercy Health and another doctor who worked alongside the accused doctor in the emergency room during the man's initial visit. However, claims against them were dismissed with prejudice on October 4.
The doctor was included in an amended complaint filed in July 2021. The initial complaint, filed on March 19, 2021, was on behalf of the man, represented by the administrator of his estate. It alleged that the man had called paramedics on March 21, 2020, after vomiting blood and was taken to St. Elizabeth's emergency room, where he was examined by the accused doctor and the other doctor.
The lawsuit contended that the man had a history of gastrointestinal disease and lupus, with multiple instances of blood vomiting documented in his medical records. During his visit, blood work and X-rays were ordered, and he was instructed to discontinue his anti-inflammatory medication for back pain. Instead, he was advised to take a non-inflammatory medication for his back and given drugs for stomach and gastrointestinal issues. He was discharged a few hours later.
Two days later, the man began vomiting blood again and called paramedics. He was once more taken to the emergency room, where he ultimately passed away. The cause of death was attributed to cardiac arrest resulting from acute gastrointestinal hemorrhage.
The lawsuit argued that the doctors who attended to the man during his initial ER visit failed to conduct more extensive blood or diagnostic testing and did not consult with gastrointestinal specialists.
A trial brief submitted by the doctors' counsel stated that the man had received multiple physical examinations, lab tests, and X-rays before being discharged.
The jury awarded the man's estate $2 million for mental anguish and non-economic losses and $5 million for future losses, finding the defendants negligent in the man's care and that this negligence was a "proximate" cause of his death.
