Radiologist’s appeal denied in $5.9M wrongful death suit
On Jan. 30, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld a $5.9 million ruling against Pennsylvania’s Abington Memorial Hospital and the Radiology Group of Abington (RGA) in the wrongful death of a patient who had a feeding tube mistakenly inserted into his lung.
In December 2008, Marvin Summerford, an 88-year-old who entered AMH for a heart attack, died a day after feeding solution was injected into his left lung.
Summerford’s wife, Anita E. Tong-Summerford, sued the hospital and Kristin Crisci, MD, the radiologist who misread the x-ray of the feeding tube. The Montgomery County Court found the hospital and radiologist liable in the wrongful death in May 2016, awarding Tong-Summerford $8.5 million, which was later decreased to $5.9 million.
This week, a three-judge panel for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed the lower court’s findings.
“We find that the jury's $1.5 million award for [Tong-Summerford’s] wrongful death claim and its $3.5 award for Mr. Summerford’s conscious pain and suffering caused by the negligence of Dr. Crisci and RGA fell ‘within the uncertain limits of fair and reasonable compensation,’” wrote Correale F. Stevens in the court’s opinion.
The court included $947,000 in additional damages in the ruling. Crisci and RGA will be responsible for 75 percent of the damages, while the hospital will be on the hook for the remaining 25 percent.
Nicholas joined TriMed in 2016 as the managing editor of the Chicago office. After receiving his master’s from Roosevelt University, he worked in various writing/editing roles for magazines ranging in topic from billiards to metallurgy. Currently on Chicago’s north side, Nicholas keeps busy by running, reading and talking to his two cats.