Professional Negligence Law Reporter

Evans v. Seattle Children’s Hosp., No. 15-2-26711-6 SEA (Wash. Super. Ct. King Cnty. Feb. 22, 2019).

Latosha Evans, a 17-year-old heart transplant recipient, went to Seattle Children’s Hospital to undergo a cardiac catheterization to correct a fractured stent in her ascending aorta. After the procedure, which took approximately three hours, Evans was transferred to the facility’s post-anesthesia care unit. A report from a neurology consultation allegedly noted Evans had possible right hemiparesis; however, neither the attending nurse nor medical staff initiated a stroke protocol or requested a complete neurological assessment.

Evans did not awake from anesthesia after several hours, prompting a neurology team to go to her bedside. The team ordered a head CT scan to rule out a stroke. This test, performed over four hours after Evans arrived on the unit, confirmed a large left middle cerebral artery stroke
consistent with embolic ischemia. She was transferred to another hospital, where she underwent a craniectomy. Now 23, she has limited verbal and cognitive ability, necessitating 24-hour care.

Evans sued Children’s University Medical Group, which reportedly employed the medical staff that treated her at Children’s Hospital, alleging failure to timely identify and treat the embolic stroke despite her neurological deficit and failure to recover from anesthesia. As a result
of the providers’ negligence, the plaintiff argued, she was denied effective rescue therapies, including tPA, which could have prevented or mitigated some of her injuries.

The jury awarded approximately $13.95 million.

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ members Thomas B. Vertetis, Darrell L. Cochran, and Elizabeth P. Calora, all of Tacoma, Wash.