BECKLEY – A Raleigh County woman is suing doctors and hospitals, alleging failure to document the decedent's vital signs and administration of medication.
Edith McDonald filed a lawsuit Nov. 14 on behalf of decedent Anthony McDonald in Raleigh Circuit Court against Appalachian Regional Healthcare Inc., Beckley ARH Hospital, ARH Southern West Virginia Clinic, Dr. Prakash R. Puranik and Dr. Vinod B. Parmar, citing medical negligence.
According to the complaint, McDonald was admitted into Beckley ARH Hospital Nov. 27, 2012, for right knee total replacement surgery and the surgery was performed by Puranik. During the surgery, the suit states, McDonald was administered femoral nerve block and general endotracheal anesthesia and was later transferred to a recovery unit where Parmar ordered morphine patient controlled analgesia prep.
On Nov. 28, 2012, according to the suit, a code blue was called where McDonald was found in apneic and cyanotic cardiac and respiratory arrest and was later pronounced dead. An autopsy performed determined McDonald's cause of death as aspiration of gastric contents, the suit states.
McDonald alleges the doctors and hospitals were negligent in supervising and monitoring the decedent's vital signs, PCA administration and other medication intake every two hours and failure to document care and treatment ordered.
McDonald seeks compensatory damages plus court costs and fees.
McDonald is represented by attorneys J.C. Powell of Powell & Majestro in Charleston, and Anthony M. Salvatore of Hewitt & Salvatore in Fayetteville.
Raleigh Circuit Court case number: 14-C-1049
Woman blames doctors, hospitals for patient's death
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