THE EFFECTS OF NEVADA’S HARSH MEDICAL MALPRACTICE LAWS They Only Serve Insurance Agencies and Dangerous Doctors
This is Amy Geiler. Amy suffers from a neurological condition called osmotic demyelination syndrome (ODS). ODS causes the brain to be unable to communicate with the body due to damage to the brain stem. This means Amy is in a locked-in state and has no voluntary muscle movement below her neck, leaving her unable to move her body, talk, eat, or otherwise take care of herself. What makes this locked-in syndrome so awful is that Amy is conscious, alert, and has cognitive abilities, but she cannot speak or meaningfully move her body. She can hear her son, Gabriele, talk to her but cannot respond verbally. Amy can only react by using her eyes or mouth, and even those movements are extremely limited. ODS usually results from rapid overcorrection of hyponatremia (critically low sodium levels). Medical experts agree that the safest approach to treating a patient with low sodium is to increase the sodium levels by four to six points over 24 hours, but absolutely no more than eight points in 24 hours. Amy’s sodium levels were raised by more than 17 points within 24 hours by negligent medical personnel. This is Amy’s story about Nevada’s failed medical malpractice laws. Amy fell in her house on New Year’s Day 2019 and broke her nose. She was taken by ambulance to the emergency room for treatment. The hospital staff ran blood tests, which showed Amy had a sodium level of 107. Normal sodium levels are between 135 and 145; anything below 120 is considered critically low.
The hospitalist decided to transfer Amy to Mountain’s Edge Hospital, which is more of a skilled nursing facility than a hospital. Mountain’s Edge does not have an ICU or on-site emergency department. It does not have a physician on-site 24/7 and lacks staff trained in hyponatremia, nor does it have an on-site working pharmacy, radiology lab, or an on-site laboratory. The staff could not perform emergency lab work. Amy was transferred and was not seen by a specialist until about 24 hours after she arrived at Mountain’s Edge. While Mountain’s Edge staff did run blood work, the critically low sodium levels were not reported to the correct doctors and were not acted upon.
As a result, Amy’s sodium level increased by more than 17 points in 24 hours, resulting in Amy’s locked-in syndrome.
The hospitalist who transferred Amy worked for a group of doctors owned by Dr. Amit Valera. Dr. Valera was also the chief medical officer at Mountain’s Edge Hospital and was responsible for the facility’s census — how many staff members were needed for the patients at Mountain’s Edge. When the hospitalist reached out to Dr. Valera about Amy, Dr. Valera sent a text message to the hospitalist asking them to transfer Amy to Mountain’s Edge. Dr. Valera was listed as the receiving physician at Mountain’s Edge for Amy. He did not see Amy until the following night after her admission. The hospitalist later admitted that he had no medical basis for transferring Amy. Amy’s mother filed a lawsuit on Amy’s behalf, and Amy recently had her day in court. A jury of citizens of Clark County, Nevada, determined that the hospitalist, the first hospital, Dr. Valera, Mountain’s Edge, and various doctors and nurses at Mountain’s Edge were all negligent in their care of Amy. The jurors determined that the negligence of Dr. Valera, Mountain’s Edge, and the doctors and nurses at Mountain’s Edge were the legal cause of Amy’s injuries. The jurors then determined that Amy’s damages equaled just under $47 million, with $1.4 million in past medical expenses and $10 million in future medical expenses.
“IT’S TIM NEVAD CHANG LAWS. T LAWS NOT PR PATIEN PROVID INCENT OFFER H MEDICAL
The emergency room doctor immediately ordered IV fluids, which caused Amy’s sodium level to rise three points in one hour and 21 minutes.
The hospital had a written policy that required patients with sodium levels under 110 to be admitted to the ICU. The emergency room doctor determined that Amy needed to be admitted. But because emergency room doctors are not allowed to admit patients at that hospital, Amy was assigned a doctor called a hospitalist. Within five minutes of assuming care, the hospitalist decided not to admit Amy and transferred her to another facility. The hospitalist told Amy that the hospital didn’t accept her insurance and that he wanted to save her from a surprise bill. This was untrue, and Amy’s insurance company had told the hospitalist on a recorded phone call that Amy could be admitted to the hospital under her health insurance. The hospitalist still decided to transfer Amy to another facility. In the transfer paperwork, he said Amy was stable for transfer and had no emergency medical condition.
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