CHARLESTON – The estate of a Kanawha County woman blames negligence by CAMC and two doctors for her death.
Sean Schoolcraft, as administrator of the estate of Martha Lou Ore, filed his complaint October 13 in Kanawha Circuit Court against Charleston Area Medical Center, Dr. Wing Choy Yeen and Dr. Stephen A. Lewis.
According to the complaint, Ore had critical aortic valve stenosis and was admitted March 22, 2022, to CAMC’s Memorial Hospital to undergo a transcatheter aortic valve replacement with an Edwards Lifesciences pericardial tissue heart valve. Yeen was the thoracic surgeon, and Lewis was her cardiologist.
During the procedure, a pericardial effusion was detected and blood was drained. Still, the pericardial effusion remained. Lewis’ notes say an echocardiogram showed it now was significant, so Ore was intubated for an open sternotomy for exploration. She was put on cardiopulmonary bypass before Yeen and Lewis found a perforation over the lateral left ventricular wall.
The complaint says the surgical staff had used a soft-tipped straight wire to cross the aortic valve and to advance the catheter into the left ventricle. That’s when the pericardial effusion was detected, according to the complaint.
Surgical notes said Ore’s entire heart surface was so fragile “that any attempt to life the heart up to expose the lateral LV wall resulting in shearing off the epicardial fat pad exposing the raw bleeding surface of the myocardium, causing more bleeding.”
The doctors placed sutures to repair the perforation, but surgical notes say “following more than four hours of aggressive resuscitation and attempt to repair and to provide packing, patient continued to bleed from the raw surface of the heart.”
Ore died at 6:47 p.m. after withdrawal of support because of severe persistent mediastinal bleeding from the injury and perforation. The estate says her death was a direct result of the negligent acts of the defendants by perforating the left ventricular wall during the procedure, sheering off the epicardial fat pad, exposing raw surface of the myocardium resulting in a degloving injury as well as failing to exercise reasonable care and failing to operate in a timely manner to stop the bleeding caused by the multiple perforations.
The estate accuses the defendants of negligence and violating the West Virginia Medical Professional Liability Act. It seeks compensatory and punitive damages, court costs, attorney fees, pre- and post-judgment interests and other relief.
The estate is being represented by Timothy D. Houston, L. Dante diTrapano and David Carriger of Calwell Luce diTrapano in Charleston and by William C. Forbes and Jesse Forbes of Forbes Law Offices in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Carrie Webster.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 23-C-915
