CHARLESTON – The case of a Charleston woman who died because of what her estate calls inadequate care by CAMC staff has settled.
Nancy Kinder, as administrator of the estate of Jessica Beall, had sued Charleston Area Medical Center in 2024, claiming she received improper medical care at CAMC before she died of septic shock on December 2, 2022, at age 32. Beall had went to CAMC’s Emergency Room four times the month before, and her estate says she was denied even basic medical care. Kinder is Beall’s mother.
diTrapano
“This is yet another example of deplorable medical care at CAMC’s Emergency Room,” attorney L. Dante diTrapano told The West Virginia Record when the case was filed. “It flies in the face of all reason that trained medical professionals continue to miss obvious signs of sepsis.
This young lady just needed basic medical care, and that was denied.”
After settlement talks and mediation failed, the trial began January 5 before Kanawha Circuit Judge Stephanie Abraham. On the third day of the trial, CAMC and insurer MagMutual agreed to settle for the policy limits, which likely was seven figures.
The estate accused CAMC of negligence in violation of the West Virginia Medical Professional Liability Act, and it sought compensatory damages, general damages, special damages for medical care and treatment expenses, pain and suffering, sorrow, mental anguish, loss of consortium, severe emotional distress, lost wages, lost earning capacity, funeral and burial expenses as well as punitive damages, court costs, attorney fees, pre- and post-judgment interests and other relief.
Beall is survived by a five-year-old son. The estate was represented by diTrapano and Timothy Houston of Calwell Luce diTrapano in Charleston and by Michael J. Del Guidice of Ciccarello Del Guidice & La Fon in Charleston. CAMC was represented by Tammy White-Farrell and Bob White of Farrell & Farrell in Huntington.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 24-C-723
