Jury returns $5.25M verdict against Jefferson Hospital

The jury deliberated for about seven hours over two days before reaching its verdict, which was only against the hospital, not the individual doctors.

A jury on Friday ordered Jefferson Hospital to pay the family of a Canonsburg woman $5.25 million after it found the hospital liable in her death following what was characterized as a routine bronchoscopy in 2021.

The lawsuit filed by Steven Jury as the administrator of the estate for his mother, Darlene Jury, included claims for professional negligence and wrongful death. Defendants included the hospital, Allegheny Health Network, Allegheny Pulmonary and Critical Care as well as pulmonologist Dr. Christian Kyung and Dr. Wen Xu, an anesthesiologist.

“We are happy for our client and admire his dedication to seeking justice,” Carmen Nocera, the family’s attorney, said Wednesday. “While nothing will bring Darlene back to her family, we hope this verdict makes things safer for the next patient that goes to Jefferson Hospital.”

The jury deliberated for about seven hours over two days before reaching its verdict, which was only against the hospital, not the individual doctors.

The jury found in the other defendants’ favor.

A spokesman for Allegheny Health Network, which includes Jefferson Hospital, declined comment. Attorneys for the physicians did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Darlene Jury had previously been diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a pulmonary embolism, asthma, bronchitis and pneumonia.

She was scheduled for a bronchoscopy on Aug. 18, 2021, at Jefferson Hospital, which was performed by Dr. Kyung.

A bronchoscopy is a procedure in which doctors look at the lungs through a camera on a thin tube passed down the throat.

A biopsy was taken of the right lower lobe of Jury’s lung. According to the medical records, the lawsuit said, the procedure was performed without complication.

However, the complaint said that Ms. Jury’s oxygen saturation level dropped throughout her time in the post-anesthesia care unit. At the time of her discharge later that afternoon, her level was at 90% through a nasal cannula.

She was discharged with an oxygen tank.

According to the complaint, that evening, Jury complained of chest pain. She went to bed with her oxygen on.

The next morning, her mother found her deceased in bed. She was 67.

The autopsy showed Ms. Jury died from hemorrhagic shock due to “laceration of the right lung during bronchoscopy.”

The lawsuit alleges the hospital discharged Jury without following several established policies, including ensuring that her oxygen saturation level was stable.

In court documents, Kyung said Jury had a long medical history including shortness of breath and had been complaining that even minor activities, including watering flowers, could contribute to the problem.

In 2018, Jury began using an inhaler every four to six hours, and by 2020, she was using a nebulizer twice per day.

The procedure, Kyung said, was scheduled because Jury had been progressively getting worse.

“No issues were encountered, and the patient tolerated the procedure well,” the filing said. “At the end of the procedure, Dr. Kyung inspected all segments of both lungs; no active bleeding was seen.”

Kyung said in court documents that when Jury was discharged, he told her that some chest pain was normal, but if it got worse, or she had increased bleeding or shortness of breath, she should return to the emergency department.

Kyung said in his pre-trial statement that the type of bronchoscopy complication Jury experienced has never been reported in medical literature and “did not result from any negligence,” by him.

“Ms. Jury’s death, though sad, did not result from medical negligence,” the statement said.