Articles - Medical Malpractice
Maria Brower accuses hospital of covering up mistakes, altering her medical records.
By Erin Kennedy
The Wichita Eagle
A Hutchinson teen who was partially paralyzed after back surgery 11 years ago has re-filed a lawsuit against Via Christi-St. Francis, accusing it of altering her medical records to cover up the mistake that cost her the use of her legs.
"As a trial lawyer for 26 years, encountering of altered or doctored medical records is unfortunately not that rare. But the ability to conclusively prove it is rare," said attorney
Larry Wall, who filed the case Nov. 25 in Sedgwick County District Court. He hopes this suit will curb what he says is a common practice.
In defense affidavits, an expert in neurophysiology monitoring and a forensic chemist specializing in dating inks on documents said that the medical records of Maria Brower's 1987 surgery were frauds - substitutes of an adult's successful back surgery on which her name had been written sometime after 1992, possibly even 1996 when this case went to court. Maria was 4 when back surgery left her without the use of her legs or control over her bowels and bladder.
Officials of Via Christi Regional Medical Center-St Francis Campus declined to talk about the allegations, "We feel It would be inappropriate to comment since this is once again in litigation," said hospital spokeswoman Beth Chiles Hershberger.
The suit is similar to one filed in 1996 by different attorneys against Via Christi and Lisa Gould, the electroencephalogram technician who monitored Maria Brower's surgery. Those attorneys, Brad Prochaska and Scott Gerard, were declared potential witnesses and the case was dismissed.
The lawsuit contends that Gould incorrectly performed a procedure to monitor Maria's spinal cord during surgery to remove fat from her spinal cord by failing to properly set up the device or accurately document the results.
It accuses the hospital of altering records to make it appear that Maria's spinal cord was not injured during surgery and to prevent her from winning a malpractice suit against any health-care providers. It also accuses Gould of giving false and misleading testimony at trial.
In 1996, a suit filed only against Maria's surgeons went to trial and jurors decided against the girl.
Before her surgery, Maria was a normal 4-year-old, said her mother, LeAnn Brower. "She had this little bump on her back. But she ran and played, she was potty-trained and was getting ready for kindergarten."
After the surgery, Maria was paralyzed below her waist.
"She became disabled," LeAnn Brower said. "Other kids were afraid to play with her, even through she's bubbly and friendly. And parents were worse."
Maria, now 15, walks with leg braces and a walker and wears a catheter. She's still angry. "Always in the back of her mind is, 'Would I have been a cheerleader? Would I have
played sports?'" said her mother.
LeAnn Brower hopes Maria will get justice. "She's been wronged several times. It's bad enough to make a mistake, but then to cover it up. ," she said.
Prochaska said it is standard medical procedure to keep accurate records. "No hospital is allowed to use whiteout he said, referring to a record where patient information has obviously been covered up and Maria's name written over It. The hospital's own written rules specify that records and back-ups are to be kept safe from damage for decades and call for the immediate firing of any employee caught altering or destroying records.
Andrea Erwin, who has 22 years' experience and is a nationally recognized expert in monitoring spinal activity during surgeries such as Maria's, said the computer printout
she reviewed of Maria's nerve function during the surgery could not have been from a 4-year-old. It's clearly from an adult, Erwin said in her affidavit, and handwritten times on the printout have all been changed, with the original times obliterated.
Erin Kennedy can be reached at 268-6622 or ekennedy@wlchitaeagle.com
7701 E. Kellogg Suite 415 Wichita, KS 67207-1709