CHARLESTON – A Kanawha County woman says medical negligence following her birth led to her daughter suffering severe hearing loss.
Kristina Wiley, parent and guardian of Abigail Wiley, filed her complaint August 3 in Kanawha Circuit Court against Laboratory Corporation of American Holdings and the West Virginia University Board of Governors.
According to the complaint, Abigail Wiley was born July 21, 2014, at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Huntington. Following her birth, she was in distress. St. Mary’s staff took three surface cultures from the infant the day after she was born and sent them to LabCorp for a general viral culture.
diTrapano
Abigail Wiley was transferred to Charleston Area Medical Center on July 25, 2014, where she was under the care of Dr. Raheel R. Khan. Four days later, LabCorp sent a report to St. Mary’s that said one of the cultures was positive for cytomegalovirus, or CMV. On August 5, 2014, LabCorp sent another report to St. Mary’s saying the other two cultures also were positive for CMV.
“LabCorp did not otherwise flag these reports or alert SMMC of Abigail Wiley’s positve results for CMV, even though CMV is known to be the leading cause of non-genetic hearing loss in children,” the complaint states. “These reports were placed in Abigail Wiley’s medical chart at SMMC.”
The complaint says Khan failed to obtain the lab reports showing Abigail was positive for CMV, and the girl was dischrged from CAMC on August 3, 2014.
“Abigail Wiley never received a well-established treatment protocal for CMV which ultimately led her to suffer permament and severe hearing loss,” the complaint states.
Wiley accuses both defendants of professional negligence and vicarious liability. She seeks compensatory damages for past and future medical expenses, past and future physical pain and suffering, past and future loss of earnings, past and future loss of enjoyment of life as well as annoyance, inconvenience, embarrassment and humiliation.
She also seeks punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interests, court costs, attorney fees and other relief.
Wiley is being represented by L. Dante diTrapano and David H. Carriger of Calwell Luce diTrapano in Charleston and by Richard D. Lindsay II and Dr. Richard D. Lindsay of Tabor Lindsay & Associates in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Kenneth Ballard.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 22-C-620