University of Chicago to pay $2.6M to settle CV malpractice suit
The University of Chicago has agreed to pay $2.6 million to settle a malpractice lawsuit claiming the actions of its cardiology staff in July 2014 led to the untimely death of a 61-year-old heart patient.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports Sarah Crayton, a retired postal employee from Bridgeview, Ill., died five years ago after driving herself to the University of Chicago Medical Center for a routine appointment with a heart specialist. She reportedly failed to finish a six-minute walking stress test, prompting her cardiologist to admit her to the hospital and order a cardiac catheterization for the next day.
Crayton’s daughter told the Sun-Times her mom called that evening, telling her the cardiologist had “nicked” her iliac artery. Staff injected a clotting agent and released her three days later.
The patient’s son-in-law found her on her bedroom floor the next morning, the Sun-Times reported. Her punctured artery had leaked blood into her lower abdomen, and she died a day later from internal bleeding.
Lawyers representing Crayton’s family said the test that damaged Crayton’s artery might have been unnecessary altogether, and once her artery was punctured, they should have taken additional steps to surgically repair the damage or insert a stent.
The University of Chicago agreed to forgo any appeal in the case, and the cardiologist who performed Crayton’s test was dropped from the settlement this month.
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After graduating from Indiana University-Bloomington with a bachelor’s in journalism, Anicka joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering cardiology. Close to her heart is long-form journalism, Pilot G-2 pens, dark chocolate and her dog Harper Lee.