Drowned Woman’s Family Gets $5 Million Settlement

The family of a woman who died in the bathtub of a hospital has been awarded $5 million in damages by a jury. The settlement has been awarded against Gwinnett Medical Center, located in Gwinnett County, near Atlanta, GA.

Wendy Wyckstandt, a 34-year-old woman, who had just given birth at the hospital after Thanksgiving Day in 2000, had returned after complications brought on by high blood pressure. She was extremely weak, and definitely not in a position to take care of herself. Strangely enough, Wendy was left to shower on her own, and while doing so, collapsed in the tub. Her mother found her drowning in the tub, but it was too late. A day later, she died.

Her mother filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Gwinnett Health System, the company that owned Gwinnett Medical Center in 2002, alleging that Wendy was left alone, despite being in a very poor health. After a long and arduous six-year-old battle with the hospital, Wendy’s parents have finally received justice. A jury has awarded a $5 million settlement.

It’s been a long wait for Wendy’s parents. The first trial, that began after the lawsuit was filed in 2002, was hampered by plenty of shenanigans by the hospital authorities. The attorney for Wendy’s parents was denied access to hospital medical records and tapes that would have conclusively proven that no nurses had checked up on Wendy. The hospital had insisted all along that its nurses did check in on Wendy regularly, and as scheduled. The first trial ended with a hung jury.

When the second trial began, the judge held the hospital responsible for not handing over all hospital policy records. He has yet to decide on how much to compensate Wendy’s attorneys for the unnecessary research they had to undertake after they were denied access to hospital records. The attorneys had wanted all tapes that captured the last 24 hours of footage from outside Wendy’s room, and were only given access to two tapes. On these tapes, there was a 30 minute period of footage that was blank. According to the hospital, the blank 30 minutes was caused by the change of the tapes, which is a normal occurrence. By a stroke of fantastic coincidence, the nurses who were supposed to check up on Wendy apparently, the hospital says, arrived to check up on her room in that 30-minute period when the tape goes blank.

To Wendy’s attorneys, it seemed like too much of a coincidence that the tape went blank at the exact time that the nurses arrived to do their duty. Luckily, the jury too thought the coincidence was too much to stomach, and has slapped a $5 million settlement on the hospital.

If you have lost a loved one in a fatal accident, you need the help of an experienced California personal injury lawyer. Contact an attorney at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.