US Government Wants Widow’s Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against the Marion Veterans Hospital in Illinois Thrown Out
The federal government wants a judge to toss out a wrongful death lawsuit filed by a woman who alleges that her husband died as a result of medical malpractice at the Marion VA Hospital in Illinois. The reason the government is citing for its request, filed in East St. Louis, Illinois last month, is that the widow, Katrina Shank, failed to file the necessary affidavit from an expert stating that Shank had reasonable cause to file the lawsuit.
Shank’s lawyer says that although the affidavit is necessary for medical malpractice cases filed in Illinois court, it is not necessary for cases filed in federal court. Her lawsuit accuses the hospital of negligence, which she says resulted in her husband Bob bleeding to death after undergoing gallbladder surgery at the VA hospital last year. She is seeking $12 million in wrongful death compensation.
Following the minimally invasive procedure, doctors were unable to wake Bob up. Bob’s surgeon, Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez, suggested that he might have had a stroke, a heart attack, or liver damage. Bob was given several blood transfusions, which Shank says eventually prevented his blood from clotting. He underwent another surgery to determine where the blood was going. Bob passed away the next day.
Shank says the doctor let her husband bleed to death and that someone that worked at the hospital suggested she contact a medical malpractice lawyer. The US Government is named as the only defendant in the lawsuit.
Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez is under investigation for at least nine deaths that occurred to patients under his care while he worked at the VA hospital in Marion. A Veterans Affairs Administrative Investigation Board investigation found that the Marion VA hospital’s management staff failed to take action when doubts arose about Veizaga-Mendez’s credentials.
Report says Marion VA leadership dismissed concerns, Marion Daily Republican, August 15, 2008
Government Wants VA Suit Thrown Out Malpractice Alleged in Deaths at Ill. Clinic, Redorbit.com, July 24, 2008
VA Probes Doctor's Role in Patient Deaths, NPR.org, November 5, 2007
Related Web Resources:
A Health Care System, Marion.va.gov
Military Medical Malpractice Overview, Justia
