Radiologist prevails in malpractice case alleging ultrasound misread led to patient’s infertility
A radiologist has prevailed in a malpractice case alleging a 2017 ultrasound misread led to one woman’s infertility.
The lawsuit dates to December 2017 when Megan Wasson gave birth to her son at a Topeka, Kansas hospital. Harish Panicker, MD, interpreted the postpartum sonogram and allegedly failed to identify retained placenta, Missouri Lawyers Media reported Monday.
Wasson experienced continued bleeding but was discharged one week later, with no concerns arising from her medical images. She experienced hemorrhaging and the passage of clots one month afterward, eventually leading to a second ultrasound.
This discovered the retained placenta, resulting in delayed intervention and leaving the woman unable to have additional children. She later sued leading to a trial, with a Johnson County jury recently ruling in the radiologists’ favor.
Defense attorney David Tyrrell said the case boiled down to challenges reading the ultrasound, which was “complex with subtle findings that the experts simply interpreted differently.”
“I believe that the jury understood that even if there was a question as to proper interpretation of the radiology study at issue, the patient’s outcome would not have changed,” Tyrrell said according to the outlet.
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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.