Orange City, Iowa — The lawyer who represented the family of a Sioux County woman, and won a $29.5 million dollar malpractice case against the Sioux Center Community Health Center, says it was a tough case.
Forty-year-old Carrie DeJongh of Hull died after having a reaction to dye used for a routine C-T scan in June of 2015. Her family sued, saying the doctor failed to give her the drug ephenephrine, that would have saved her life. Lawyer Nick Rowley of Decorah represented the family and says he was surprised at such an overwhelming verdict.
It is the first malpractice verdict in Sioux County, and Rowley says it can be tough to convince a jury.
Rowley says the case centered on Doctor Roy Slice’s failure to give her the drug — which is commonly given to kids with what is known as an “eppy pen” for allergic reactions or bee stings.
Rowley says there is still the possibility of appeal of the verdict in favor of DeJongh’s husband and four children. He believes his side would also win an appeal.
The amount of the verdict is a record, but Rowley says it is reasonable given the history of such cases.
A law was nearly passed in Iowa that would have capped damages at $250-thousand. Rowley says that would have been an injustice to this family.
Rowley says our system is set up so juries and not lawmakers or insurance companies decide the awards in these cases, and that, he says, is the way it should be.
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Original post 12:47pm 6/14/2018
Orange City, Iowa — A Sioux County family who lost their wife and mother after an episode at a northwest Iowa hospital in 2015 has been awarded $29.5 million in a medical malpractice suit.
According to a press release from the lawyers of the family of Carrie DeJongh, the 40-year-old wife and mother of four died after a routine CT scan at Sioux Center Health on June 9, 2015. The Decorah-based law firm Trial Lawyers For Justice says that DeJongh had an anaphylactic reaction to the contrast dye administered for her CT scan, lost consciousness and went into shock shortly after the dye was administered. The family sued both Sioux Center Health and Dr. Roy Slice, saying that DeJongh wouldn’t have died if the proper steps had been taken after she experienced the reaction.
The legal team says that instead of administering epinephrine (the ingredient in EpiPens, used for allergic reactions), Dr. Slice initially only gave DeJongh the allergy medicine Benadryl, which is commonly used for itchiness and hives. They say that by the time epinephrine was administered 45 minutes later, it was too late.
The DeJongh family’s lead trial lawyers, Nicholas and Courtney Rowley stated that the defense lawyers argued that if the jury should find that Dr. Slice was negligent, that they should only award the family $50,000 to $100,000. The Rowleys say that the jury made it clear that “the value of a wife and mother to her family should not be treated cheaply in Iowa,” when they awarded the family $29.5 million for their loss.
