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King County jury awards West Seattle woman nearly $14 million, deems care negligent

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Adrian Florez
/
KNKX

More than a decade has passed since Latosha Evans went to Seattle Children’s Hospital for a heart transplant. And it’s been just over five years since a stroke during a follow-up procedure left her with life-altering disabilities.

Now, a King County jury says Children’s University Medical Group must pay nearly $14 million in damages to cover a lifetime of care that lies ahead for the 22-year-old from West Seattle.

In a ruling Feb. 16, the jury found that hospital staff failed to recognize and treat Evans in a timely manner when she suffered an embolic stroke during an elective cardiac catheterization.

Evans has suffered permanent impairment of her cognitive function, speech, memory and mobility. She will require full-time care for the rest of her life, her attorneys said in a statement.

“The jury’s verdict provides justice and closure to a very deserving family,” said Darrell Cochran, one of the attorneys who represented Evans. Her parents filed the lawsuit in October 2015, The Seattle Times reports.

Next steps for University of Washington Medicine, which defended the care by CUMG, are unclear.

“We understand how stressful Ms. Evans’ medical condition has been for her and her family,” a UW Medicine spokeswoman told KNKX Public Radio in an email Tuesday. “We believe the care we provided to her was appropriate and are determining the next steps.”

According to the law firm’s statement:

Evans first went to Seattle Children’s in 2007 for the transplant. She was well-known at the hospital, appearing in ads for the facility. She returned in January 2014, to replace a fractured stent doctors discovered months earlier. Upon realizing a stent shortage, doctors were forced to prolong her procedure.

After waiting more than half an hour for stents from the University of Washington Medical Center, cardiologists instead proceeded with a different stent. The procedure lasted more than four hours under conditions that increased Evans’ risk of stroke, attorneys argued. Staff failed to administer a stroke test several hours following the procedure, despite “obvious symptoms.”

The jury awarded Evans with $10.95 million for future economic loss, and another $3 million in general damages. Evans’ doctors, who work under Children’s University Medical Group, were negligent in her care, according to The Times. Her nurses, who work for Seattle Children’s Hospital, weren’t.

“We understand that navigating a complex medical condition can be very difficult, and our deepest sympathy goes out to Latosha Evans and her family,” a Seattle Children’s spokeswoman wrote in an email Tuesday. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to patient safety and providing the highest quality medical care.”

Kari Plog is a former KNKX reporter who covered the people and systems in Pierce, Thurston and Kitsap counties, with an emphasis on police accountability.