The case dates to April 2018 when retired 77-year-old Army veteran Byung “Ben” Oh visited WellStar’s Atlanta Medical Center after falling off a ladder while doing yard work and injuring his back…radiologybusiness, $15M jury verdict after radiologist improperly places catheter, leading to patient death
He underwent spine surgery and developed a chyle leak—a rare but serious condition where damage to lymphatic vessels allows the milky white bodily fluid to spill into nearby tissue. Radiologist Barry Jeffries, MD, allegedly improperly placed a suprapubic catheter outside of his bladder, worsening the chyle leak.
The incorrect draining continued for 11 days, purportedly emptying 87 liters of chylous fluid from his body. Oh eventually developed septic shock and multiorgan failure, dying in July 2018.
Plaintiff attorneys charged that surgeon Amy Wyrzykowski, MD, failed to adequately investigate the nature and cause of the ongoing fluid loss, nor did she ensure it was properly addressed.
In the original complaint, attorneys charged that the radiologist either did not perform or didn’t record contrast imaging to assist in placing the catheter. He purportedly only recorded two images—X-rays that could not confirm the placement of the catheter.
A subsequent pelvic CT scan with contrast showed the suprapubic catheter had been placed superior to the bladder and not in it. The misplaced catheter further put Oh at risk of immune-suppression and increased his vulnerability to infection, attorneys charged. They also contend that providers failed to properly investigate the catheter mistake and spot it in a timely fashion.