An Oregon family has sued a Portland hospital, claiming doctors told them their 13-year-old daughter was dying when her condition was entirely curable.
Steven and Lori Stokes claim in the lawsuit filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court in late May that their daughter was hospitalized for more than a month after doctors implanted a heart valve upside down during her open-heart surgery.
The surgery was performed at Oregon Health and Science University last August, according to news outlet KGW8. After the procedure, the girl was reportedly placed on ECMO — a form of life support that pumps blood outside the body to a heart-lung machine — as doctors were unable to restart her heart.
Doctors told her parents that the surgery went “very well” and that her heart was likely not working properly because of the “shock” from the procedure, according to the lawsuit.
The girl’s condition began to worsen, and the hospital staff began discussing end-of-life decisions with the family, including organ donation, the lawsuit claimed.
Her parents were allegedly told by hospital staff that their daughter needed either an artificial heart or a heart transplant to live, but that they would need to transfer her to an out-of-state facility for the surgery.
Despite being told by hospital staff that she would probably die while being transferred to another facility, given her “gravely ill” condition, her parents decided to take her to Seattle Children’s Hospital, according to the lawsuit.
It was at Seattle Children’s Hospital where doctors discovered that the girl’s heart valve was improperly installed, the lawsuit said. The valve was replaced with a new one and correctly positioned, according to the lawsuit.
Her “heart promptly began functioning sufficiently well that she was successfully removed from cardiac bypass and no longer required ECMO,” the lawsuit read, per The Oregonian.
The girl was reportedly able to eventually go home with her parents, but the lawsuit claimed she suffered from “permanent physical and emotional injury,” according to The Oregonian.
Her parents also reportedly claim to have endured “emotional trauma” and “profound suffering.”
The family’s attorney, Robert Wagner, said the girl is “making a miraculous recovery” but called the alleged actions of the Portland hospital “a complete and egregious screw-up.”
A spokesperson for Oregon Health and Science University said it cannot comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit seeks $17 million in damages. But the Portland hospital reportedly can only be held liable for up to $5.275 million.
