Jury says two local doctors, hospital guilty of malpractice

A Whitley Circuit Court Jury handed down a $4.77 million verdict last Wednesday ruling that two local doctors and a hospital failed to exercise a degree of care and skill that a reasonably prudent doctor or hospital should have taken in regards to informing Herman Darrell Storms about a growth on his pancreas in 2000.
“My client Shirley Storms, I don’t think the money meant as much to her as the fact that there was an acknowledgement by a jury that someone did something wrong. Those people, as they have a right to do, refused to admit they did anything wrong. We had a trial, and the result was a pretty good verdict for my client in fact, I think it is one of the highest verdicts ever given in Whitley County,” said Warren Scoville, one of the attorneys for Herman Darrell Storms and Shirley Storms.
On June 9, 2003, Herman Darrell Storms and his wife, Shirley Storms, filed suit against Dr. Thomas J. Moore, Dr. Karl Heinss, and Baptist Regional Medical Center (BRMC) alleging that on April 4, 2000, Storms was admitted to the hospital under the care of Moore and Heinss, and that a CT scan revealed the possibility of a mass lesion at the tail portion of his pancreas.
According to the lawsuit, the radiologist and Moore, who was Storms gastroenterologist, recommended a follow-up CT scan, but that Moore never advised Storms about the potential mass lesion, suggested a follow-up CT scan, or arranged for a follow-up CT scan.
The lawsuit alleged that Heinss, who was Storms primary care physician, never advised him of the growth either.
According to the lawsuit, on July 15, 2002, Storms was again admitted to BRMC, and a large cancerous mass was discovered on his pancreas, which had spread into the spleen, stomach, and kidney.
Storms died on March 8, 2005, three days before his 49 birthday.
The jury ruled that Moore was 70 percent at fault, BRMC was 25 percent at fault, and Heinss was 5 percent at fault.
The jury awarded $500,011 for medical expenses, $505,416 for lost wages and permanent impairment of Darrell Storms power to earn money, $2,770,833 for his physical pain and mental anguish, and $1 million to Shirley Storms for loss of consortium.
“The issue was whether Dr. Moore and his other doctor, Dr. Heinss, told Darrell Storms that he had a small growth on the tail of his pancreas back in the year 2000, and they didn’t,” said Scoville. “He said they didn’t. They said they charted it, and indicated they told him. The jury believed Mr. Storms.
“The way to protect yourself is to have them sign a form that I have a growth on the tail of my pancreas, and sign your name to it. He said he didn’t know. If he had of known, he would surely have gone back to the doctor. People that have a growth on their pancreas don’t just smile and go on with their lives.
“It was a very slow growing tumor. He went back to the doctor two years later, and had cancer all in his kidneys, stomach, every place. He went to the Mayo Clinic in a last ditch effort. They are the ones, who found this old CT scan, and said, ‘My goodness, why didn’t you do something about this back then.’ He said, ‘I didn’t know.'”
Scoville said the evidence at trial showed that if Storms had been told about the growth in 2000, and received treatment that he would probably still be alive.
“That’s what the evidence was. The doctors testified that it was a very slow growing tumor that it was cancerous,” Scoville said.
Scoville said there are typically two kinds of cancer that strike the pancreas.
With the first kind there is virtually no chance of recovery. The other form, which Storms had, was very slow growing, and can be treated if caught in time.
“There was some issue as to whether he would have died any way, but I don’t think there was any doubt that his life was dramatically shortened by this that’s what the jury said,” Scoville said.
Scoville said the jury’s verdict should result in hospitals and doctors changing the way they do business.
“If it doesn’t then they don’t get it,” Scoville said. “I really believe that doctors and hospitals could really cut down on their complaints and claims if they would just take a hard look at how they do business, and realize that they are not making widgets that they are dealing with human lives.
“Everybody makes a mistake, but they ought to be constantly vigilant to try and figure out a way to minimize their mistakes. When they make a mistake they ought to admit it, and get on with it, and try to correct it.”
Darrell Storms sister, Charlotte Storms, said she wasn’t surprised by the verdict.
“My brother would have done anything and everything to live,” Charlotte Storms said. “You don’t see what they write on the charts. You have to trust them. If they would have just called him, and followed up. They saw the spot, but they didn’t call.”