A St. Clair County jury reached a defense verdict in favor of a physician in a wrongful death lawsuit alleging a woman died after her pneumonia went undiagnosed.
Jurors returned a verdict in favor of Dr. Kristy Waeltz in St. Clair County Associate Judge Kevin Hoerner on Jan. 24.
Waeltz was represented at trial by Ted Dennis.
Plaintiff Lindsey Allen was represented by Matt Davis.
The original complaint was filed on March 4, 2011 against Waeltz, St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Dr. Ricardo Garchitorena, Dr. Melinda Walker, and Belleville Family Medical Associates Ltd. Waeltz was the only defendant remaining when the case went to trial.
According to his complaint, Allen’s wife, Catherine, went to the emergency room at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital on Feb. 9, 2009 shortly after midnight with complaints of severe neck pain. She was 59 years old at the time with a history of diabetes and renal failure. She was allegedly treated by her attending physician, Garchitorena, and sent home.
The decedent went to the emergency room again on Feb. 12, 2009 via ambulance with complaints of “global pain and weakness and exhibiting abnormal vital signs, hyperventilating and lacking the ability to take fluids.” She was treated by Waeltz and sent home, the suit states.
After she was discharged, the decedent allegedly saw her primary care physician, Walker, who prescribed her Vicodin, Valium and ordered an MRI of her cervical spine.
Then on Feb. 13, 2009, the decedent went to the emergency room a third time, where she was diagnosed with pneumonia and possible sepsis. She was admitted into the Intensive Care Unit for further treatment and became asystolic on Feb. 18, 2009. She allegedly suffered an anoxic brain injury rendering her in a vegetative state. She was transferred to hospice care and died March 13, 2009, the suit states.
The defendants all denied liability in their answers to the complaint.
St. Clair County Circuit Court case number 11-L-120