Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 24, 1993 TAG: 9309240197
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: FAIRFAX LENGTH: Medium
Ruth Dell, 75, slammed the right side of her head into a car window during a head-on collision in December 1991. She was flown to Fairfax Hospital, where a CAT scan showed extensive bleeding on the right side of her brain.
The $10 million lawsuit filed by her husband, Chuck, and two sons in Fairfax County Circuit Court claims neurosurgeons operated on the left side of her brain. The family said they weren't told of the error and learned about it only when a family member who is a doctor reviewed Dell's records.
"I can't really describe the emotions, except to say I was incredibly angry. I'm still very angry," Chuck Dell said. His wife, a former school board member and civic activist, is often confused and has great trouble remembering simple things.
"I could believe people could make mistakes. What's hard for me is that we weren't told," Chuck Dell said.
Three doctors who treated Ruth Dell practiced at the Virginia Neurologic Center Ltd. in Alexandria, which released a statement denying responsibility for her condition.
"VNC absolutely denies that VNC physicians caused Mrs. Dell further injury, that they misrepresented treatment or that there is a basis for the other legal claims in the suit," the statement said. "Her current condition appears to be due to the original accident. . . . We are confident that when the full story is told, VNC will be vindicated."
The medical malpractice suit asserts that neurosurgeon Kathleen B. French performed what she described in a report as a "left frontoparietal craniotomy." The operation involves removing a portion of the patient's skull to relieve pressure on the brain and allow surgeons to locate the source of bleeding and stop it.
The doctor's report states that she found evidence of bleeding on the left side of the brain and treated it, according to the Dells' attorney, Robert T. Hall.
The Dell family believes Ruth Dell's problems were caused when the injury to the right side of her brain went untreated for too long. The suit also claims the left side of the brain was damaged during the operation.
by CNB