CHARLESTON – The estate of a Kanawha County man blames negligent medical care for his death.
Tierney Chapman, as administratrix of the estate of Michael Chapman, filed her complaint October 17 in Kanawha Circuit Court against Charleston Area Medical Center and the West Virginia University Board of Governors. Tierney Chapman was Michael Chapman’s wife.
“This is yet another instance of an unnecessary and avoidable death at CAMC due to medical negligence,” attorney L. Dante diTrapano told The West Virginia Record.
diTrapano
According to the complaint, Michael Chapman presented to CAMC’s Gastroenterology Clinic on June 2, 2022, with complaints of increased fatigue and weakness over the previous 7-10 days as well as shortness of breath and water retention. He was diagnosed with alcoholic hepatitis, cirrhosis, liver lesion, elevated amylase and lipase.
CAMC staff encouraged him to go to the ER to be evaluated, noting his elevated white blood cell count, increased bilirubin and transaminases as well as elevated amylase and lipase. When he went to the ER, he was admitted to ICU for hyponatremia.
The complaint says Chapman received negligent care and treatment from Dr. Sara Iqbal, a WVU BOG employee, and Dr. Salman Shaukat, a CAMC employee. It says lab work showed abnormalities indicative of an infectious process that were undiagnosed and untreated.
It says Iqbal failed to order a paracentesis for Chapman that had been suggested in his medical notes. Instead, she noted Chapman was scheduled for an abdomen MRI on June 29, 2022, with an August 29, 2022, follow-up on that. He was discharged June 7, 2022, despite lab work still showing abnormalities, according to the complaint. His discharge papers signed by listed him in stable condition.
“Every single value in the CBC (complete blood count) with differential was alarmingly abnormal and showed marked worsening from Mr. Chapman’s condition upon admission on June 2, 2022,” the complaint states. “In fact, 9 out of 10 measurements in the CBC with differential had changed for the worse.”
The complaint says Chapman’s condition deteriorated for several days after he was discharged. He was readmitted to CAMC on June 12, 2022, with dangerously abnormal lab values. He also was hypothermic, hypoglycemic, acidotic, had a supratherapeutic INR, displayed an altered mental status, had elevated liver function values, elevated creatinine levels and a high white blood cell count.
He was intubated, placed in a medically induced coma, admitted to ICU for severe sepsis and septic shock, lactic acidosis, hepatic encephalopathy, acute respiratory failure with hypoxia and other issues. He was pronounced dead the next day from septic shock.
The complaint accuses the defendants of negligence and violating the West Virginia Medical Professionals Liability Act. Tierney Chapman also seeks damages for loss of consortium.
The estate seeks compensatory damages, general damages and special damages for medical expenses, lost wages, lost earning capacity, lost benefits, lost household service, lost consortium, pain and suffering, sorrow, mental anguish, severe emotional distress, injuries suffered by Chapman before his death as well as funeral and burial expenses. It also seeks punitive damages, court costs, attorney fees, pre- and post-judgment interests and other relief.
The estate is being represented by diTrapano and Timothy Houston of Calwell Luce diTrapano in Charleston and by Jesse Forbes and William Forbes of Forbes Law Offices in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Tera Salango.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 23-C-922