Christopher Carey Miller visited Tyrone Hospital in Oct 2016 for lower back pain. Providers administered an MRI exam using gadolinium. But the patient suffered an allergic reaction, went into cardiac arrest and suffered brain damage leaving him with the mental faculties of a child.…. radiologybusiness, Pennsylvania radiologist, hospital must pay $10.8M over allergic reaction to gadolinium, jury rules, Marty Stempniak, 2020
Tyrone Hospital did not have a drug box with epinephrine, nor an alarm in the imaging suite. MRI tech Sherry Piper told jurors she ran to the control room 60 feet away to sound the alert and yelled for help down the hallway. Supervising radiologist Kelly Biggs reportedly responded and grabbed an emergency doc to help and eventually the patient was transferred to the emergency department.
In a unanimous decision, Blair Country Jury awarded $10.8M in damages after hearing both sides. About $6.2 million of the payout will cover 45-year-old Christopher Carey Miller’s care over the next 30 years, while the remainder will go toward lost earnings, pain and suffering.