Knox County Jury Returns $3.25 Million Verdict Against Tennova In Wrongful Death / Medical Malpractice Case

Last Friday evening, a Knox County jury returned a verdict of $3.25 million in a wrongful death/medical malpractice claim. The verdict, against Mercy Health Systems (now Tennova), involved a wrongful death claim for the death of Valerie Hurley, a 25-year-old membership director for the Knoxville Zoo. Jefferson Memorial Hospital is a sister facility to the one in question.

Valerie Hurley died while at the hospital on March 3, 2009. The lawsuit alleged that she entered the hospital on Sunday night, March 1, and was diagnosed as having a gastrointestinal illness. Attorney Scott Hurley (no relation to the victim) of Knoxville, who represented the family of Ms. Hurley, said that the proof in the two-week trial showed that she was given 5.25 liters, or 11 pounds, of IV fluid without the monitoring of her output, causing her to develop severe heart and lung complications and resulting in fluid overload. As a result, Ms. Hurley died approximately 26 hours after entering the hospital.

“Friday night’s verdict provided this family with the answer, after five years of pursuing the truth, as to why their daughter died,” Hurley said. The hospital contended that Ms. Hurley died of a sudden cardiac arrhythmia, but Hurley said the jury rejected that argument. “From our earliest investigation of this case, we believed that the proof clearly showed that Valerie’s condition worsened while she was in the hospital, as demonstrated by her vital signs, including her oxygen saturation readings. Unfortunately, the decline in her condition was never treated.”

The verdict is one of the largest in recent years in a medical malpractice case for Knox County, Tennessee. Scott Hurley indicated that he expected that the hospital would seek to attempt to have the jury verdict set aside, and/or to appeal the verdict.