DANVILLE — A Montour County jury has cleared Geisinger Medical Center and two physicians of negligence in a civil court case involving a Shamokin woman who died following surgery eight years ago.
The jury deliberated about an hour Wednesday afternoon before reaching its verdict, according to a court spokesman.
The lawsuit filed by the family of Patrice Dupnock, 48, alleges the hospital and doctors Suresh Nair and David J. Bertsch, performed an unnecessary mastectomy, failed to properly assess her before and after the surgery and did not follow proper procedures when she went into cardiac arrest.
Dupnock’s husband, Michael, was seeking monetary damages to pay the $30,890 medical and funeral expenses, and an unspecified amount for the loss of his wife and the mother of their four children.
At the time of Dupnock’s death, her children were 26, 21, 13 and 11 and she was employed as a resource manager at the State Correctional Institution at Coal Township.
“We don’t want one penny for sympathy. We want justice,” said the plaintiff’s Philadelphia attorney, Gary Solomon, after describing the family’s anguish and displaying in court photos taken of Dupnock with her youngest children a few months before she died.
During the two-week trial, both sides presented numerous expert witnesses who gave conflicting testimony.
The plaintiffs said the physicians persisted in performing a mastectomy even though cancer wasn’t found in the breast after it was removed.
They alleged a drug given to Dupnock during treatment damaged her heart; cardiovascular scans were not properly performed before and did not detect the problem that caused her to stop breathing and led to her death 38 hours after surgery.
When Dupnock went into cardiac arrest in the hospital, Solomon also argued, the hospital staff did not follow protocol.
“Her cancer couldn’t be cured, but it was treatable and she could have lived for several more years,” he said, referring to expert testimony.
The defendants said Dupnock’s death was unavoidable and that she was already suffering from a rare and aggressive cancer by the time she went for treatment at Geisinger in July 2001.
Her death three months later, they said, was due to microscopic cancer cells that had spread from her breast to her brain.
Geisinger attorney, Anna Bryan, of Philadelphia, disputed the plaintiff’s claim that Dupnock was forced into having a mastectomy and described “heroic efforts” by hospital staff to save her the morning of Oct. 18, 2001.
Dr. Nair’s attorney, Mark Perry, of Scranton, said even if an MRI had been done, it would not have detected the small cancer cells that were later found in her brain during the autopsy.
He said Dupnock received appropriate care and no malpractice occurred.
Dr. Bertsch’s attorney, Daniel Robner, of Berwyn, defended his client’s decision not to continuously monitor Dupnock’s heart because she had displayed no problems in that area.
He said the physicians provided her the best treatment and care possible and should not be held to an unreasonable standard.
“It’s the practice of medicine, not the perfection of medicine. It’s an art as much as a science,” Robner said.
n E-mail comments to mmoore@dailyitem.com
News
Jury clears Geisinger in mother of four’s death
- News
-
-
Firefighter union may char pacts
LEWISBURG — Paid members of the William Cameron Engine Company have voted to unionize under the International Association of Fire Fighters, a move believed to stem from internal tension between paid and volunteer members of the department, according to various sources.
-
M-W rule on drug testing is area’s boldest
MIDDLEBURG — Midd-West is the only school district in the Central Susquehanna Valley that requires students interested in participating in extra-curricular activities to agree to submit to random drug testing.
-
New shelter exec gets busy
When Cathy Teisher stepped down as executive director of Haven Ministries, in March, Pamela Steffen stepped up.
-
Tax boost could bring $120G pad
The Lewisburg Area School District will seek a 3.2 percent real estate tax increase for the 2012-13 school year, the maximum allowed under the index, under a proposed budget now available for public comment.
-
Fire has burned beneath Centralia for 50 years
CENTRALIA — Fifty years ago on Sunday, a fire at the town dump ignited an exposed coal seam, setting off a chain of events that eventually led to the demolition of nearly every building in Centralia — a whole community of 1,400 simply gone.
-
'To Do': Montandon Community Days
MONTANDON - Montandon Community Days will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 26 along Railroad Street.
-
California’s Coronado named nation’s best beach
CORONADO, Calif. (AP) — Like a Hollywood star, Coronado’s 1.5 mile-long beach literally sparkles, thanks to the mineral mica glinting in its sand.
That’s one of the reasons why Coronado — flanked by the iconic hotel featured in Marilyn Monroe’s 1958 film “Some Like It Hot” — has been named the No. 1 beach in the United States in the 2012 survey by “Dr. Beach” professor Stephen P. Leatherman of Florida International University. -
Typical CEO made $9.6M last year, AP study finds
Profits at big U.S. companies broke records last year, and so did pay for CEOs.
-
Barnstorming cattle badger citizens for beer
BOXFORD, Mass. (AP) — Police say a roving group of cows crashed a small gathering in a Massachusetts town and bullied the guests for their beer.
-
'A Day in Towne' tradition draws crowds to Boalsburg
May 25--For the 148th year, Boalsburg will be the gathering place for regional families to remember all ranks of Armed Forces veterans.
-
Fired Pa. president gets more time to clear office
CALIFORNIA, Pa. (AP) — A judge has canceled a hearing to determine whether California University of Pennsylvania president Angelo Armenti can remove his personal property from his former office, because state officials have given him more time to do so.
- Weird crime of the week: Peddler in pickup scams bargain-hunting meat seeker
- More News Headlines
-
Firefighter union may char pacts
