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Jury awards $15M after Indiana cancer patient’s misread CT scan

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Dave Stafford for www.theindianalawyer.com

A federal jury Friday awarded $15 million in damages on behalf of a woman who claimed a Carmel imaging center failed to identify a tumor that went untreated and undetected for nearly 18 months, severely reducing her chances of surviving cancer.

The jury returned its verdict Friday after a four-day trial, awarding $14 million to Courtney Webster and $1 million to her husband, Brian Webster. The jury found Center for Diagnostic Imaging, Inc., doing business as CDI Indiana LLC, was responsible for the conduct of a doctor who failed to identify a tumor after Courtney underwent a CT scan in November 2014.

The Websters sued Minnesota-based CDI in October 2016, claiming that the tumor went undiagnosed until May 2016 and CDI was negligent.

“As a direct and proximate result of CDI and CDI Indiana’s substandard care, Courtney Webster’s rectal cancer grew and spread, significantly reducing her chances of surviving the disease, significantly altering her treatment options, and causing her severe pain, suffering and emotional distress,” the complaint alleged.

CDI denied responsibility in the case and asserted that the corporation did not operate the center and was not a medical provider. The company argued in response to the suit that it “provided certain management services to an Indiana professional corporation that provided diagnostic imaging services” at its location at 11900 N. Pennsylvania St.

Because of its stance in the case, CDI was not subject to caps on damages that typically would be in place when medical providers opt in to coverage under the Indiana Medical Malpractice Act. Had CDI been covered by the act, Webster’s recoverable malpractice damages would have been capped at $1.25 million.

“We’re just thrilled the jury came back with a verdict that reflects the magnitude of the harm in this case,” plaintiff attorney Jerry Garau said Tuesday afternoon. He said that before the suit was filed, Webster was diagnosed with a form of stage 4 cancer that has a survival rate of about 10 percent over five years. He said she is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment.

Along with Garau, the Websters are represented by Barbara Germano and Kathleen DeLaney. CDI is represented by attorneys from Bleeke Dillon Crandall, P.C., and Katz Korin Cunningham.

“This is a very difficult case that involves a number of complicated issues,” a CDI spokesman said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. “We’re clearly very disappointed in the verdict, and we’re strongly considering all options including appeal. As a result, we are not in a position to discuss the case further at this time.”

The case before Chief Judge Jane Magnus Stinson in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana is Webster, et al. v. Center for Diagnostic Imaging, Inc., et al., 1:16-cv-02677.

EPD ACTIVITY REPORT

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EPD REPORT

Vanderburgh County Recent Booking Records

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http://www.vanderburghsheriff.com/recent-booking-records.aspx

Volleyball announces 2018 schedule

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University of Southern Indiana Volleyball will begin the 2018 season at home, hosting the Double Tree Invitational at the Physical Activities Center August 24-25.

USI will play four games over the two days, taking on Ohio Dominican University, Kentucky State University, Minnesota State University-Mankato and Edinboro University.

The following weekend, the Screaming Eagles play four more games in Canton, Ohio, as part of the Malone Hall of Fame City Challenge.

Upon return from Ohio, USI opens Great Lakes Valley Conference action at Maryville University September 7 to kick off five straight road games, concluding with defending GLVC champion Lewis University September 15.

The Eagles are back at home for a pair of games September 21-22 against Truman State University and Quincy University, before hitting the road once again. The three-game road trip begins September 28 with a visit to national semifinalist Rockhurst University, followed by visits to William Jewell College and Bellarmine University.

USI then hosts Lewis and the University of Indianapolis before traveling for the Midwest Region Crossover October 12-13 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Five of the final six games on the Eagles’ schedule will be in the PAC, with the exception being October 23 at the University of Illinois Springfield. USI wraps up the regular season by hosting McKendree University November 3.

The GLVC Tournament is scheduled for November 8-10 at the EastSide Centre in East Peoria, Illinois. After improving to 12-9, 5-13 GLVC a year ago, USI is looking to get back to the GLVC Tournament for the first time since 2015.

USI loses defensive specialist Shannon Farrell, the career leader in digs, but returns junior outside hitter Mikaila Humphrey (Floyd Knobs, Indiana) and sophomore setter Casey Cepicky, (St. Louis, Missouri), who led the team in kills and assists, respectively.

VANDERBURGH COUNTY RECENT BOOKING RECORDS

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http://www.vanderburghsheriff.com/recent-booking-records.aspx

EPD ACTIVITY REPORT

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EPD REPORT

Voter Turnout In May Primary Only 20 Percent

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Turnout in May primary Only 20 Percent

June 18, 2018 

By Seth Fleming
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS—Only one in five Hoosiers who are registered to vote cast ballots in the May primary election, continuing a trend of low voter turnout in Indiana.

Of the state’s 4.4 million registered voters, 870,336 cast ballots on May 8, which saw one of the most contentious contests in the nation when three Republicans battled for the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate.

In that race, former state Rep. Mike Braun, who touted his business credentials, beat U.S. Reps. Todd Rokita and Luke Messer by a comfortable margin.

Even though the turnout was relatively low, it was up substantially from the 13 percent who voted in the 2014 midterm elections.

“It’s candidates and issues that push people to the polls,” said Valerie Warycha, spokesperson for the Election Division of the Secretary of State’s office.

“Contested statewide and county races across the state brought voters from both parties out in significant numbers, and thanks to the preparations made by clerks and election administrators in all 92 counties, Indiana’s reputation for safe and efficient elections continues,” said Secretary of State Connie Lawson in a news release.

But Laura Merrifield Wilson, assistant professor of political science at the University of Indianapolis, noted that 20 percent isn’t a particularly strong turnout.

“Historically we have ranked among the lowest in the union with getting registered voters out to the polls,” Wilson said. “We were among the top 15 in lowest voter turnout in 2016 and we had the lowest voter turnout in 2014 in the general election.”

Age, income, and education are usually the factors that determine voter turnout, but Indiana falls in the middle of those categories, Wilson said.

“I think part of it is our institutions. You have to be registered 29 days before election day,” she said. “We have one of the more stringent voter ID’s in the country.”

As a result, some voters may show up on election day without the knowledge that their registration has expired or without proper identification.

Across the state, turnout was highest in Jay County at 57 percent or 3,483 of 6,132 registered voters. Vanderburgh County experienced the weakest voter turnout—10 percent of registered voters made it to the polls.

The largest of the state’s counties, Marian, Lake, and Allen, experienced low turnout—16, 17 and 15 percent respectively.

Overall voter turnout numbers from this year’s primary are comparable to the 2010 midterm primary election. That year, 21 percent of registered voters made it to the polls.

This year saw an upswing in early voting. Twenty percent of all primary voters cast their ballots at one of their county’s early voting centers, according to the state Election Division. The number has nearly doubled since 2010 when 11 percent of all votes were cast through early voting programs.

FOOTNOTE: Seth Fleming is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

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Holcomb: DCS Changes, Extra $25M Mark New Day For Troubled Agency

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Holcomb: DCS Changes, Extra $25M Mark New Day For Troubled Agency

June 18, 2018
Marilyn Odendahl
Pledging this is the start of a new day for the Indiana Department of Child Services, Gov. Eric Holcomb on Monday outlined changes his administration is implementing to improve the troubled state agency and announced that he is dipping into the state surplus to provide another $25 million to boost salaries and transform the workplace culture.
Holcomb spoke at the unveiling of a 116-page evaluation of DCS by the Alabama-based Child Welfare Policy and Practice Group. The nonprofit was hired to assess the state agency after former executive director Mary Beth Bonaventura abruptly resigned in December 2017 and accused the governor of putting children’s lives at risk.
Speaking to a crowd that included DCS workers, service providers, and legislators, Holcomb said about half of the recommendations in the CWG report were mentioned in five previous evaluations done in recent years by other groups.

“The difference, of course, is today we are going to begin to implement many of those recommendations,” he said. “So we’ll reduce the staff turnover rate which is about 30 percent. We’ll provide support for foster families so another 1,800 don’t give up their licenses. We will get to the bottom of the why the rate of Hoosier children in out-of-home care has more than doubled in the last five years.”

Paul Vincent of CWG presented the highlights of the report and noted Indiana has a very high rate of children in out-of-home care compared to the surrounding states and nationally.

The report found that Indiana’s rate of children in care is 13 per 1,000 children — more than twice the national average of 5.6. The state’s rate of children entering care is 8 per 1,000 children compared with the national rate of 3.6.

Holcomb received loud applause when he announced the infusion of $25 million. He said the money will go partly toward boosting staff salaries. “We have to reinvest, we have to reinvigorate the child services staff,” Holcomb said.

He also said the transformation of DCS would have to include an improvement in the workplace from a “culture of fear” to one or more decentralized decision-making and better support for foster families. In addition, he said his administration will be using the report to develop its legislative proposals for the 2019 session of the Indiana General Assembly.

“These changes must be put into motion and they will be,” Holcomb said. “Believe me, I fully realize with the change there will be some difficulty because it’s going to be a different approach, but we have to take a different approach if we want to realize different results. That starts today.”

Microbrewery Planned For McCurdy Building

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JUNE 19TH, 2018 TYRONE MORRIS EVANSVILLE, INDIANA

There has been some controversy recently over the microbrewery proposed for the residential McCurdy building in downtown Evansville. The plan was to add a microbrewery to the residential property but that plan is causing problems due to the different changes.

The new business would require changes to the plumbing and heating and there are requirements for grease traps if they planned to sell food.

The Kunkle Group owns the McCurdy, and right now, the owners are working to get the building in compliance so work can get started.

Ron Beane, Building Commissioner for Vanderburgh County, says,”Well any time you have a mixed-use building that has residential and commercial properties within the same structure each time you change something it changes the variables of the needs of the building. It’s a process to go through to figure out how we get all these to work in compliance with each other and be safe for the attendance”

The area plan commission has approved the idea but there’s no word on when work may begin.

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Keep Saying It: “Down with Gerrymandering!”

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submitted by Gail Riecken CCO StateHouse Editor

Keep Saying It: “Down with Gerrymandering!”
Maybe the Supreme Court will hear.

Gerrymandering is once more in the headlines. Given there are only a few weeks left of this Supreme Court term, we will soon know if the Justices will issue an opinion on gerrymandering.  It may only result in a legal principle(s) to be followed in drawing districts with no ruling on the two cases before the Court. But, I’ll take it.

Those cases, one from Wisconsin and one from Maryland, present a real issue for the Justices.  Ruling these two cases unconstitutional might lead to multiple cases over the years being challenged in court.

That doesn’t mean our State shouldn’t take action.

In previous statements, I have criticized our State Governor for not taking a lead on this issue. That comment stands. The legislature, as well, should have taken the lead. The people of Indiana deserve a state government that acts.

As State Senator Tim Lanane wrote earlier this year:
“Regardless of what the Supreme Court decides, Indiana can strengthen its own laws to take bias out of the system and draw more representative maps. If the Supreme Court rules that partisan gerrymandering is unconstitutional, we will have to implement redistricting reform anyway. If the Supreme Court rules that it is not unconstitutional, Hoosiers still expect legislators to act to ensure fairness in our elections.”

We will wait to learn whether or not this contrived and manipulated map-drawing system will continue. What we deserve is a Supreme Court setting a principle(s) whereby each legislature in each state will have to ensure those elected are elected by the people and not a computer program.

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