Man wins $10 million from Rock Springs hospital

By Sierra Brown
Rocket Miner
Via Wyoming News Exchange
 
ROCK SPRINGS — Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County and several medical staff were found negligent in the treatment of a Rock Springs man who had both his legs amputated four days after being released from the hospital in June 2013.
The jury on Oct. 5 awarded Darrell Menapace $10.165 million at the end of the two-week trial. The jury determined Memorial Hospital was 40 percent at fault, attending physician Lin Miao was 50 percent at fault and Menapace was 10 percent at fault. Dr. Miao settled with the plaintiff out of court prior to the trial, according to court documents.
Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County released a statement Friday saying, “This has been a difficult situation for everyone involved. While we are disappointed by the verdict, we have great respect for the legal system and the jury’s work. At the end of the day, our focus remains on providing outstanding patient care.”
Lawyers Emily Rankin and Bryan Ulmer from the Spence Law Firm in Jackson argued for Menapace, saying the hospital’s nurses working his case were negligent in his care. According to a press release from the Spence Law Firm earlier this week, evidence suggested nurses at MHSC did not effectively communicate to other nurses at shift change the circulation issues caused by arterial blockages in Menapace’s legs, and that if they would have been aware of his condition, they could have intervened on his behalf or provided information to Mr. Menapace that would have allowed him to take action on his own.
Dr. Miao had diagnosed Menapace with uncontrolled diabetes and peripheral vascular disease. Rankin and Ulmer argued Miao was negligent in believing he had time to treat these health concerns before addressing the vascular emergency, and that the nurses failed to share their daily assessments which could have prompted the doctor to re-evaluate his plan for Menapace, according to the firm’s press release.
“This is an important verdict. Nurses are an indispensable part of the team that delivers healthcare to patients throughout the state and across this county. It is our hope that this verdict will encourage and empower nurses everywhere to use all of the tools at their disposal to understand the needs of their patients and advocate on their behalf,” Ulmer said in a press release.
Rankin said in the press release, “The people of Sweetwater County should be proud. This jury sat attentively through two weeks of complicated medical testimony. In the end, the jury saw that Mr. Menapace deserved help and they had the courage and conviction to provide that help. In doing so, this jury helped every other person who will be admitted to this hospital in the future.”
According to court documents, Dr. Miao was not employed directly by MHSC but by Barton Associates. The hospital was unable to cover all its shifts on June 6-8, 2013, so Dr. Miao was invited to work at MHSC during that time.
Menapace checked into the hospital on June 6, 2013, with acute onset numbness and cramping to his legs which adversely affected his ability to walk. Dr. Miao determined Menapace’s condition was chronic, not emergent, and discharged him, suggesting he visit his primary care provider and a vascular surgeon, according to court documents.
Two days later on June 8, 2013, Menapace saw Angela Slinden, a nurse practitioner at Hunter Family Medical Clinic in Rock Springs. She prescribed a diuretic for his leg swelling and set up a consultation with a vascular surgeon two days later. During trial, jurors found Slinden to have violated the standards of care but did not believe her violation to be a cause of Menapace’s injuries, so no fault was assigned to her. She did not appear as a defendant in the hearing and instead settled out of court.
On June 12, 2013, home health care visited Menapace at his home and suggested he go to the University of Utah Hospital. When he arrived that day, his condition had worsened to the point of developing severe kidney failure. The University of Utah Hospital diagnosed Menapace with “acute limb ischemia, sepsis, and acute renal failure” resulting in the emergency double above-the-knee amputation of his legs, according to court documents.
The documents state that a CT angiogram of Menapace’s legs showed an acute arterial blockage at knee level, and a vascular surgeon expert witness testified that this condition combined with sudden onset pain, as was Menapace’s case, is the more serious condition.
After Menapace’s complicated post-amputation stay in the hospital and recovery, he returned to work at Bridger Power Plant. His condition required him to modify his home and learn to use prosthetics. The loss of his legs ultimately had a devastating effect on his life, according to the lawsuit.