A recent medical malpractice lawsuit ruled against the University of Arizona Health Network, now Banner-University Medical Center Tucson and awarded $12 million to a “Tucson woman in a vegetative state” due to a medical error. The largest medical malpractice lawsuit in Pima County in the last decade, the suit stems from an incident that occurred on September 13, 2013. In that day, Esmeralda Tripp visited the ER alone and had “been to the same emergency room multiple times dealing with the same issue,” seizures. According to her daughter, Jamaica Tripp-Serrano, she was “generally treated with a Vitamin K shot or plasma and released.” In addition to the frequent seizures, Tripp was also on “Coumadin, a blood thinner medication.”According to the lawsuit, Tripp was treated by a doctor “just 8 weeks out of medical school,” and was given the drug Profilnine. Shortly after, she “suffered from blood clots and a heart attack that caused permanent brain damage.”

Handwriting Medical Malpractice Graphic; image courtesy Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Alpha Stock Images.

Understandably, Tripp's family was upset over the ordeal. When commenting on the incident, Tripp-Serrano said, “Look at the outcome. Look at my mom – she's no longer my mom. She doesn't talk, she doesn't walk, but she's here and we know she's here she's listening to us right now.”Since the incident, Tripp has been living in “her family’s 8x8 den for the last 4 years.” Fortunately for her, her four children adore her and have stepped up to the plate to care for her, and Tripp-Serrano wouldn't have it any other way. When talking about her mother, she said, “She's our queen, she's our world, she's our rock.” According to reports, “she responds to her family, including her husband and seven grandchildren with limited facial expressions and hand movements.”Even though the incident occurred back in 2013, the trial didn't take place until October of last year. It lasted three weeks and within “three and a half hours of the jury deliberating, a verdict was reached,” according to the family's attorney, Brian Snyder.In response to the settlement announcement, Banner UMC attorneys released the following statement:"We are truly sorry for the medical outcome that occurred for Ms. Tripp and her family. Yet, we believe these physicians acted in good faith and with sound medical judgment based on the information provided to them. When Ms. Tripp came to the emergency room on September 13, 2013, she provided inaccurate information to her emergency physicians about her health history. This included major health events and a drug allergy that could not be substantiated despite a thorough review of her medical records. She also admitted to taking blood thinners at four times the level that was prescribed to her. No one expects to have an emergency medical situation, but a patient’s knowledge and willingness to provide the most accurate information about symptoms, health history, current medications and allergies is paramount to an emergency physician’s ability to deliver the right care in the safest manner."

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Tucson woman awarded $12 million in medical malpractice lawsuitArizona Jury Awards $12 Million in Wrong Drug Malpractice Case