Family of deceased patient awarded $880,000 after radiologist misses broken neck on CT scan
A jury has awarded the family of a now-deceased patient more than $880,000 after a radiologist reportedly failed to spot his broken neck on a CT scan.
The case dates to 2019, when 76-year-old Ohioan Ronald Nielson fell while fishing at Apple Valley Lake. He continued to experience neck pain afterward, which eventually led to him visiting the ED at Knox Community Hospital in Mount Vernon, Ohio. There, he was placed in a neck brace and underwent a CT scan, which radiologist Nicholas Peponis, MD, reportedly interpreted as not showing a fracture, according to family attorneys.
Nielson returned home without immobilization but woke up the next morning unable to feel his arms and legs. A trip to OSU Wexner Medical Center revealed a broken neck and bleeding along his spinal cord. Providers rushed Nielson back to the ED for surgery to address the hematoma and fracture but he suffered quadriplegia stemming from the former.
He died three months later from complications due to pneumonia, which the jury deemed unrelated to the original injury (however, they did hold Peponis liable for his paralysis). His estate later filed suit against Riverside Radiology & Interventional Associates leading to this month’s unanimous verdict.
“Our firm is honored to represent this wonderful family and hold this negligent medical provider accountable,” law firm Leeseberg Tuttle said March 3 on its Facebook page. “We thank the family for intrusting us with their story, and allowing us to bring it to a jury.”
LucidHealth, which Riverside Radiology is part of, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Leeseberg Tuttle or Knox Community Hospital.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.