The Telegraph Herald has reported that a judge has denied a request to dismiss a medical malpractice lawsuit filed against Iowan physicians, that alleges that a medical study they conducted has left a woman with facial paralysis, and that they failed to treat her timely and responsibly.
The lawsuit names doctors from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics as defendants. The plaintiff, T.S., can now proceed to take her case to trial on October 15.
A jury should decide upon the outcome of case, according to District Judge Marsha Bergan.
Jurors will be tasked with determining if T.S. was informed of the risks her participation when she began a study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, involving the use of biofeedback in aiding bowel function. Jurors must also look at whether the therapy caused the plaintiff's facial paralysis and if doctors in the emergency room treated her properly.
T.S. contends in the suit that she was never warned of the risk of paralysis and if she had been she would have never agreed to participate in the study.
As it is the policy of the university not to discuss any pending litigation the university spokesman, Tom Moore, declined to comment.
Dr. S.R., who was the lead investigator in the study T.S. took part in, has since left the university. Dr. S.R. is now at Georgia Regents University and directs their Digestive Health Center.
In 2008, when T.S. was employed at the hospital call center, she agreed to be a part of the study. Her participation required that she be involved with experimental procedures that were meant to relieve a patient that suffered with constipation and incontinence. One of those procedures is known as Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation or TMS.
TMS treatment uses a coil to stimulate the brain, through a person's scalp, via pulses of magnetic energy. TMS has been used for depression, though it is still a relatively new treatment. Both its effectiveness and side effects, according to the Mayo Clinic, are yet unclear.
The day after the first TMS treatment, T.S. said that she woke up with a pounding headache and was unable to move most of the muscles of her face.
T.S. went to the emergency room and was given an anti-viral drug, and eye patch and eye drops. The suit states that she should have been given a steroid and sent for nerve compression surgery.
She was sent for the surgery, however, it was not until she had suffered for another 11 days – and by then the condition had grown worse. The surgery was effective in giving her back her sense of taste, however, her facial paralysis was deemed irreversible.
Lawyers for the hospital argue that a pre-existing condition in the patient could have caused the facial paralysis and not the TMS procedure. They also stated that the ER doctors were correct in their treatment, as there is a differing opinion among the medical community on just how to treat the condition T.S. presented with.
The physician that performed T.S.'s decompression surgery, Dr. B.G., who is also the head of the university's department of otolaryngology, has a different view. In his testimony he stated that the ER doctors should have given T.S. a steroid and referred her to him sooner for the surgery.
Judge Bergan ruled, "Reasonable minds could draw different inferences and reach different conclusions." It would now be in the hands of a jury to listen to the conflicting testimony and weigh it all in their collective decision.
The suit was filed in 2010 and seeks damages for pain and suffering and loss of income.
Being harmed instead of helped by a doctor is grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit. If this has happened to you or your loved one contact a medical malpractice attorney right away.