Professional Negligence Law Reporter

Doe v. Roe Urgent Care, Undisclosed Dkt. No. (Idaho Dist. Ct. Ada Cnty. Apr. 2018).

Doe, 47, suffered from multiple sclerosis and used a walker. After visiting an urgent care clinic, she became tired and tried to sit down on her walker. The walker flipped over, and Doe hit her head on the pavement. A physician’s assistant at the clinic palpated the injury and stitched Doe’s wound before discharging her with verbal instructions. Doe fell into a coma approximately five hours later. She was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where testing revealed a skull fracture and intracranial hemorrhage with midline shift. Despite undergoing neurosurgery, Doe now suffers from severe cognitive issues and requires 24-hour care.

Doe sued the urgent care clinic, alleging failure to transfer her to a hospital emergency room after the fall in light of her neurological symptoms, including one-sided weakness. Suit also alleged that the defendant should have sent Doe home with written, not verbal, instructions. The defense asserted that Doe did not present with focal neurological deficits that would have warranted transfer to a hospital. The parties settled for $2 million.

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ member Eric S. Rossman, Boise, Idaho.

Plaintiff experts: David Chu, emergency medicine, Boston; Eric Johnson, emergency medicine, Driggs, Idaho; David Haynor, neuroradiology, Seattle; Kristen Harris, nursing, and Michelle Cook, life care planning, both of Portland, Ore.; Michael Dogali, neurosurgery, Newport Coast, Calif.; Patrick Lyden, neurology, Los Angeles; and Dennis Reinstein, economics, Boise.