Mother alleges wrongful death at St. Vincent

3/6/2013

A Toledo woman whose daughter’s remains were exhumed in September as part of a coroner’s investigation filed a wrongful-death suit Tuesday against Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center and six physicians.

Kayla McCadney, administrator of the estate of Iesha R. McCadney, contends in the complaint filed in Lucas County Common Pleas Court that her 34-year-old daughter did not receive the kind of medical attention she needed after arriving at the hospital’s emergency room in August.

Gary Osborne, a Toledo attorney who filed the suit, said the younger Ms. McCadney, a diabetic, was in kidney failure and was extremely acidotic when she arrived at the hospital. Acidosis is a condition in which there is too much acid in one’s body fluids.

“She needed dialysis emergently to survive and they wasted several hours,” Mr. Osborne said. “They should have done it in the emergency room. It’s a trauma hospital for crying out loud.”

The suit claims the delay was negligent.

“The dialysis was not started until 10:18 p.m., over six hours after it had been emergently requested, and hours after it was too late to prevent brain injury and the death of Iesha McCadney,” the suit claims. Ms. McCadney died Aug. 7.

Named in the suit in addition to the hospital are Drs. Mohamad Moussa, Daniel Schwerin, Joel Himes, Shaukat Rashid, Srinivas Katragadda, and Frank Heinselman.

Mercy released the following statement: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the McCadney family at this time. As part of Mercy’s quality and patient safety protocols, Ms. McCadney’s case was reviewed internally and the level of care provided throughout her hospitalization was determined to be appropriate.

“At this time, we have not received notification of the family’s lawsuit nor the coroner’s final autopsy report. As such, we are unable to comment further.”

The complaint seeks in excess of $25,000 in damages plus legal expenses.

Ms. McCadney’s remains were exhumed from Historic Woodlawn Cemetery in September at the order of Lucas County Coroner James Patrick after her death certificate was flagged by the Bureau of Vital Statistics and the McCadney family expressed concern that an autopsy was not done.

The manner of death listed on Ms. McCadney’s death certificate, which was signed by a hospital doctor, was “undetermined.” Dr. Patrick said Ms. McCadney died of natural causes.