CHARLESTON – The estate of a man says negligent care by CAMC staff members after colon surgery caused his death.
Cynthia L. Delaney, adminstratrix of the estate of Joseph E. Delaney, filed her complaint January 2 in Kanawha Circuit Court against Charleston Area Medical Center and Dr. James Lohan.
Just last week, CAMC was named in another lawsuit involving issues with a surgery in which a woman’s ovary was removed instead of her appendix.
According to the complaint, Joseph Delaney went to CAMC’s Memorial Hospital on November 13, 2023, to undergo a robotic-assisted laparoscopic segmental right hemicolectomy for an unresectable hepatic flexure polyp. Lohan was his surgeon, and Delaney was in stable condition when he was moved to recovery. Lohan was assisted by Dr. Theodore Franklin Weber, Dr. Zachary David Uzzel, RN Tanner Bailey, RN Fletcher Flieder, RN Justin Moore and Robert Thompson.
The next morning, Lohan and Weber saw Delaney. His abdomen was “soft, mild-tender, moderate distended,” according to the complaint and medical notes. By November 15, 2023, nursing staff had noted Delaney was “at risk for infection.”
Staff also noted “mild distension” and “moderate-distended,” and bloodwork show his white blood cell count at 11.8 (H). That afternoon, Uzzel was told Delaney had bradycardia. He entered an order for an EKG but did not order a cardiac consultation or any additional workup, according to the complaint.
On November 16, 2023, Weber noted Delaney’s Delaney’s abdomen was “mild-tender, moderate-distended, increased abdominal ecchymosis,” suggesting that abdominal ecchymosis was present beforehand because bloodwork from the previous day was used.
“Labs … reflected a trend of hyperglycemia, hyponatremia, and leukocytosis up to that point,” the complaint states. “Despite Mr. Delaney’s physical presentation, Dr. Weber did not order abdominal imaging or additional workup.
“Mr. Delaney, who had recently undergone highly invasive surgery and now presented with abdominal distension and ecchymosis, met SIRS criteria in the early morning of November 16, 2023. At 05:55, his WBC was 14.3 (H), up from 11.8 (H) the prior day; his temperature dropped to 35.0 degrees Celsius (L) at 07:43.”
Lohan did not order abdominal imaging or workup, according to the complaint, which also says Delaney’s respiratory rate increased, as did his temperature and heart rate. Notes also said there was seepage from the surgical wound.
By that night, Uzzel was alerted to evaluate Delaney’s heart rate which was greater than 200, atrial fibrillation and tachycardia. His respiratory rate also was dropping, according to the complaint.
A code was called at 8:45 p.m., the complaint states.
“Patient had abnormal telemetry monitor activity with elevated heart rate sustained,” the medical notes state, according to the complaint. “Dr. Uzzel paged and met team called. Orders for Lopressor 5mg received and administered. Patient later began to vomit brown emesis. Patient found to have no pulse and not breathing. Code blue was called.”
Delaney was intubated minutes later, and his lactic acid – which is a marker for sepsis – registered at a critical level. Resuscitative efforts, including CPR, were unsuccessful. Delaney was pronounced dead at 9:16 p.m. His death certificate lists the causes of death as cardiac arrest caused by emesis/aspiration due to an ileus.
The complaint accuses CAMC and Lohan of negligence and violation of the West Virginia Medical Professional Liability Act.
The estate seeks general, special, economic, non-economic and compensatory damages for medical expenses, lost earning capacity, lost benefits, lost household services, pain and suffering, sorrow, mental anguish, emotional distress and Delaney’s injuries prior to his death as well as funeral and burial expenses. It also seeks punitive damages, court costs, attorney fees, pre- and post-judgment interests and other relief.
The estate is being represented by L. Dante diTrapano and Timothy D. Houston of Calwell Luce diTrapano in Charleston.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 26-C-2
