Patient Safety | 09.01.19
Doctors, State Settle Iowa Woman’s Malpractice Claim for $2.5M
by NAMSS Staff
Insurance Journal (09/05/19)
The state of Iowa and a group of physicians at University Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City have agreed to pay Isabeau Norwood of Fairfield, Iowa, $2.5 million after she lost both legs to amputation and was rendered paralyzed after what she claimed was a misdiagnosed spinal problem. The State Appeal Board has approved the settlement, under which University of Iowa hospitals doctors will pay the 55-year-old more than $833,000, and the state general fund will pay $1.67 million. No wrongdoing has been admitted. Norwood first complained of back pain in 2014 and was subsequently seen by doctors in Fairfield, at University of Iowa hospitals, and the state-run Cherokee Mental Health Institute. After collapsing, doctors ordered a magnetic scan of her spine and discovered a spinal abscess and other problems. The settlement resolves Norwood's dispute with the state, but the Jefferson County Hospital in Fairfield and four of its doctors will be put on trial this month. All four claim they are not at fault.
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