Date: 03-02-2002

Case Style: Dennis Carlson and Nancy Carlson, parents of Tommy Carlson, Deceased, Plaintiffs, vs. United States of America, Mission Hills Memorial Hospital and Victor Roberts, M.D., Defendants

Case Number: CIV-01-316-P

Judge: James H. Payne

Court: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma

Plaintiff's Attorney: John Thetford and Tony Laizure, Stipe Law Firm, Tulsa, OK

Defendant's Attorney: Susan Stidham Brandon, Assistant Unites States Attorney for the Defendant United States of America; Perry T. Marrs, Jr., William C. Medley IV, Oklahoma City, OK, Short, Wiggins, Margo & Butts, for the Defendant Victor Roberts M.D. A. Scott Johnson and Michael J. Heron, JOHNSON, HANAN, HERON & TROUT, Oklahoma City, OK, for the Defendant Mission Hills Memorial Hospital

Description: Plaintiffs claimed the Defendants failed to timely diagnose Tommy Carlson with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Tommy Carlson was a 6 year old boy who presented with signs and symptoms of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever to Defendant Roberts and the Mission Hills Emergency Room in July 2000. Three days later he presented to the Choctaw Nation Hospital Emergency Room with increased signs and symptoms of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

The diagnosis was not made until Tommy was transferred to St. Francis Hospital, where he underwent multiple amputations and other surgeries. He eventually died in August 2000.

Defendants claimed they met the standard of care in all respects and that the symptoms with which they were presented were non-specific and consistent with many other illnesses. Defendant Roberts asserted "supervening cause" as a defense, claiming the later negligence of the United States of America physician absolved him from negligence. Defendant United States of America asserted that by the time Tommy was seen in the Choctaw Nation Emergency Room, it was too late to start effective treatment that might have changed the outcome.

Outcome: The Plaintiffs settled with the United States of America for $400,000.00.

The Plaintiffs settled with the remaining Defendants for an undisclosed amount.

Plaintiff's Experts: Milan D. Nadkarni, M.D., Department of Emergency Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Charles Reece Woods, Jr., M.D., Department of Pediatrics, Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Defendant's Experts: Robert McCloy, M.D., Norman, Oklahoma, Emergency Medicine

Michael S. Radetsky, M.D., Albuquerque, NM, Pediatrics

Comments: Reported by Tony Laizure, Stipe Law Firm, Tulsa, OK