Lexie Peterson, et al. v. Riverview Healthcare Associations, dba Riverview Health, et al.

Crookston, Minnesota personal injury lawyer represented the Plaintiff on a medical malpractice claim.

Peterson is Ulubiyo's surviving spouse and the mother of his three surviving children. She resides in Polk County, Minnesota. In 2021, Ulubiyo was 38 years old. On August 30, 2021, Ulubiyo went to the emergency department at RiverView Health in Crookston, a Minnesota city that is close to the North Dakota border. Ulubiyo reported that, in the four days prior to his emergency-department visit, he had begun to feel chest pain beneath his sternum while at rest and that the constant pain worsened with activity. The medical facility admitted Ulubiyo and noted that his "acuity level" was "urgent." Upon examination, medical staff found that Ulubiyo had elevated blood pressure and respiratory rate. Dr. Frankwitz-who worked at the facility as an internal medicine physician- ordered an electrocardiogram (EKG), a chest x-ray, and laboratory testing. Some of the results of these tests were abnormal.



Through Sanford Health's "One Call" system (One Call),[2] Dr. Frankwitz consulted by telephone with Dr. Manjunath (a cardiologist) and Dr. Sharma (an interventional cardiologist). Dr. Manjunath and Dr. Sharma worked for Sanford Clinic North in Fargo, North Dakota. Both physicians "were initially concerned that . . . Ulubiyo [might have been] experiencing a type of heart attack called a[n] ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI)." But after reviewing the results of certain laboratory testing that Dr. Frankwitz had ordered, Dr. Manjunath and Dr. Sharma determined that Ulubiyo was not experiencing a STEMI. All three doctors "concluded that it would be appropriate for . . . Ulubiyo to follow up as an outpatient 'in the near future' to have a cardiac echocardiogram and possibly a stress test to evaluate his chest pain." The emergency department discharged Ulubiyo less than two hours after admitting him on August 31 and advised that he should complete the recommended follow-up testing "within the month of September at the latest."



Following discharge, a Sanford cardiologist interpreted Ulubiyo's EKG results and found, among other things, that his "ST elevation in V2, V3 [was] borderline for STEMI." But no one from Riverview or Sanford communicated the cardiologist's findings to Ulubiyo or Peterson. On September 1, 2021, Ulubiyo experienced shortness of breath and cardiac arrest. Efforts to save Ulubiyo's life-including cardiopulmonary resuscitation, intubation, and transportation by ambulance to the emergency department of RiverView Health-did not succeed. An autopsy was performed the day after Ulubiyo died. A pathologist determined that Ulubiyo's cause of death was "acute lymphocytic myocarditis involving conduction system."



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Legal issue Can Minnesota exercise specific personal jurisdiction over non-resident medical professionals involved in a telephonic consultation related to alleged medical negligence?

Affirmed