$29.5M Verdict in Woman’s CT Scan Death Due to Contrast Dye Allergy

The family of a 40-year-old woman who died in 2015 after she had an allergic reaction to contrast dye used in a CT scan she was undergoing has been awarded a $29.5 million verdict by an Iowa jury.

The victim, Carrie DeJongh, had been injected with the contrast dye in preparation for the CT scan on June 9, 2015, when she went into anaphylactic shock and lost consciousness, one of her attorneys recently told The Des Moines Register. The procedure was performed by Dr. Roy Slice at the Sioux Center Community Health Center in Sioux Center, Iowa, according to the story.

DeJongh was given Benadryl by the doctor in response to her allergic reaction, but the doctor then “failed to immediately take her vital signs and did not administer epinephrine, which could have reversed her anaphylactic shock,” the attorney told the paper.

DeJongh, of Hull, Iowa, was married and was the mother of four children.

In its verdict, the jury ruled that “Slice was negligent and that his negligence caused damage to the plaintiffs,” including the victim’s surviving husband, Jeff, and their four children, the paper reported. The couple had been married for 18 years.

Photo credit: iStockphoto.com/stuartbur

The jury awarded the family $1.5 million in damages for DeJong’s pre-death pain and suffering, as well as $5.5 million to each of DeJongh’s four children for loss of parental consortium. The jury also awarded $6 million to her husband for loss of spousal consortium.

Interestingly, Iowa had enacted a law in 2017 that limited medical malpractice lawsuits by placing caps on damages for pain and suffering, the newspaper reported.

But since the limits do not apply in cases of death, the DeJongh family’s lawsuit was not limited by an arbitrary cap, which would have unfairly penalized the family of this victim in this tragic case.

Arbitrary caps on damages set by lawmakers continue to be a travesty and burden across our nation for individuals and their families when someone is seriously injured in a wide variety of cases, from medical malpractice to vehicle accidents and other incidents. Fortunately, in the DeJongh case, her family was able to recover a damage award that can begin to compensate them for their huge loss.

Legal cases like this one occur around the nation every day and are examples of similar kinds of cases that MyPhillyLawyer attorneys regularly work on tirelessly for our own clients. Often, we are not able to discuss the cases we are actively working on due to confidentiality requirements, so we discuss other relevant cases in the news such as this one to illustrate the legal situations people find themselves in every day.

We here at MyPhillyLawyer stand ready to assist you with your legal case if you or a loved one is ever seriously injured in a medical malpractice case, birth injury or any kind of vehicle crash anywhere in the United States.

These kinds of cases are a somber reminder that patients and their families must be vigilant about the medical care they receive so they know what is being done for a patient’s care every step of the way. But at the same time, patients and families aren’t doctors and they can’t know every question to ask. That’s where skilled, expert, compassionate and thorough legal representation is needed by patients and their families who have been harmed by medical malpractice and errors or omissions during their treatment.

We pledge to make sure that you and your family get the dogged and experienced legal representation that you deserve and expect from a professional legal team which works hard to uncover every fact to bolster your case and maximize your damage award.

We represent the families of victims who die in such tragedies as well, to ensure that their families receive every penny of damages that they are eligible to receive.

Call MyPhillyLawyer at 215-227-2727 or toll-free at 1-(866) 352-4572 anytime and our experienced, compassionate, aggressive team of attorneys and support staff will be there for you and your family every step of the way as we manage your case through the legal system.

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