SCRANTON – A Scranton couple who alleged that a number of medical entities and health care providers committed professional negligence when the defendants failed to identify and diagnose the wife's Stage III pancreatic cancer received $500,000 in damages.
Catherine A. James and William James (and Catherine A. James in her own right) of Scranton first filed suit in the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas on Feb. 11 versus Scranton Quincy Hospital Company, LLC (doing business as “Moses Taylor Hospital”), Dr. Jamie Stallman and Dr. Stephen G. Opsasnick of Scranton, Community Health System, Inc. (doing business as “Commonwealth Health System”, etc.), CHS/Community Health Systems, Inc. and Scranton Quincy Clinic Company, LLC (doing business as “Physicians Health Alliance”) of Franklin, Tenn. and Radiology Affiliates of Central New Jersey, of Lawrenceville, N.J.
(Defendants Opsasnick and Community Health Systems were later dismissed from the case.)
According to the lawsuit, Catherine James, an emergency room secretary of 30 years at Moses Taylor Hospital, experienced severe upper abdominal pain on Feb. 11, 2019 and sought admission to the emergency room.
After an ultrasound was taken of her abdomen, it was learned “a hypodense area…which may represent pancreatic cancer, causing obstruction of the common bile duct” was present, yet James was not informed of this diagnosis or of the possibility that she may have pancreatic cancer.
Instead, she was diagnosed with common bile duct dilation, acute hepatitis and obstructive jaundice. An emergency room physician also provided a differential diagnosis of abdominal pain, biliary colic, cholecystitis, pancreatitis, urinary tract infection, pyelonephritis, gastroenteritis, peptic ulcer, gastritis, abdominal aortic aneurysm, diverticulitis or acute myocardial infarction – without including the potential for pancreatic cancer.
Though subsequent medical professionals who examined James, including defendants Stallman, Opsasnick and a litany of others, performed diagnostic tests during examinations and hospital stays in February 2019 which indicated that James may have contracted pancreatic cancer, the suit said that none of the doctors and professionals informed her of that possibility.
Four months later, in June 2019, James returned to the emergency department at Moses Taylor Hospital, complaining of severe abdominal pain that started 10 hours prior. A CT scan was then ordered by the attending physician.
“This study found that, in the pancreas, there was a 1.9 cm area of suspicious low density in the head and neck of the pancreas, adjacent to the common bile duct. This was concerning for a mass and follow-up EUS was recommended,” the suit stated.
“Ms. James was charged at 4:08 p.m. to Penn Medicine and diagnosed with the following: Sepsis, ascending cholangitis, epigastric pain, pancreatitis, obstructive jaundice, pancreatic mass (new finding), hypothyroidism and hypertension.”
The pancreatic mass described as a “new finding” was not a new finding, but had been present from the time of her initial hospitalization and had been observed by numerous doctors on numerous occasions.
Upon her request, James was transferred to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania on June 4, 2019. When examined by Dr. Kenneth Lee, he noted that a pancreatic mass was missed during diagnostic tests conducted on her in February and informed James of same.
“The first time that James had been informed by anyone that she had a mass in the head of her pancreas was by Dr. Lee on June 7, 2019. As a result, a diagnostic laparoscopy was performed on James, which confirmed the presence of pancreatic cancer,” per the lawsuit.
“Pathology results confirmed a 2.8 cm, poorly-differentiated pancreatic adenocarcinoma with invasion of the peripancreatic fibro adipose tissue, confirmed that her cancer had spread to 7 lymph nodes and she was diagnosed with Stage III pancreatic cancer.”
Counsel for Moses Taylor Hospital filed preliminary objections on March 16, 2021 alleging that, in part, its claims of corporate liability were “impermissibly vague…and preclude defendant from properly evaluating and formulating a defense as to the conduct of unidentified agents and scope of the alleged conduct.”
Additionally, the hospital sought a court order to compel the amending of the complaint, to conform to state laws governing the process of pleading civil counts.
Additionally, CHS/Community Health System, Inc. filed a motion to dismiss itself from the case, as it “did not oversee, manage or play any role in the care and treatment administered by any of the defendants and was not involved in the events at issue in this matter.”
“CHS/CHSI’s only connection to the hospital is as a remote parent company. CHS/CHSI does not oversee the hospital management and does not have any role in the day-to-day operations of the hospital. Under basic tenets of Pennsylvania corporate law, a parent company is typically not liable for the acts of a subsidiary,” the motion states.
“Because CHS/CHSI did not employ any of the health care professionals who treated Catherine James and had no involvement in their allegedly negligent care or any other treatment at issue, CHS/CHSI should be dismissed from this action with prejudice.”
The defendant further argued that the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure and the MCARE Act have “paved the way for dismissal of non-involved parties, who have established lack of involvement by a detailed affidavit, as CHS/CHSI has done here.”
That dismissal motion was later granted.
UPDATE
Subsequent to a trial conducted last month, a Scranton jury found in favor of the plaintiffs and awarded them $500,000 in damages.
“Judgment is hereby entered on the jury’s verdict in favor of the plaintiffs and against defendants Scranton Quincy Hospital Company, LLC (doing business as “Moses Taylor Hospital”) and Scranton Quincy Clinic Company, LLC (doing business as “Physicians Health Alliance”) in the amount of $500,000,” the judgment notice read.
A follow-up filing on Nov. 2 indicated that the judgment had been satisfied.
The plaintiffs were represented by James F. Mundy, Bruce S. Zero and Stephanie Kakareka of Powell Law, in Scranton.
The defendants were represented by Stuart T. O’Neal, Courtney C. Barbacane, Joseph T. Healey and Frederick J. Lokuta of Burns White in Conshohocken, plus Howard S. Stevens, Michael J. Blum and Robert Campbell of Gross McGinley, in Allentown.
Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas case 2021-CV-00596
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com