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Two North Platte doctors named in a more than $1 million malpractice lawsuit filed an answer in Lincoln County District Court. Drs. Samuel Perry and Dell Shepherd filed Feb. 1 their response to a suit brought by Travis and Jennifer Melvin on behalf of their daughter. The Melvins alleged that Perry and Shepherd, along with Great Plains Regional Medical Center and Dr. William Dailey, were responsible for misdiagnosing their daughter in 1999. The lawsuit stated that as a result, the child suffered severe health consequences, including brain damage and the loss of a kidney. In their answer, Perry and Shepherd deny any negligence in their treatment of the child and deny the nature and extent of the damages suffered. The document stated the allegations of negligence “fail to set forth ultimate or issuable departures of applicable standards of care.” Perry and Shepherd claimed that any damages to the child were caused by factors that they (the doctors) had no control over. They also alleged that the Melvin lawsuit contained an incomplete summary of the child’s healthcare and conditions. Damages to the parents In December 2009, all the defendants named in the lawsuit moved that the damages claims of Travis and Jennifer Melvin be dismissed due to the statute of limitations. Nebraska law says that malpractice damages must be sought within two years of the act, so the doctors and the hospital wanted the damage claims of Travis and Jennifer dismissed. The law grants an exception for individuals under 21 or suffering from mental illness. In their cases, damages must be sought within two years of the removal of the disability. Since the Melvins’s suit alleged that their daughter suffered permanent damage, damages on behalf of the child are not eligible to be dismissed under these statutes. No official order was handed down concerning the motions, but Perry and Shepherd’s answer noted “Paragraph 23 (of the Melvin’s complaint) has been stricken by the court and, as such, the defendants make no response to the same.” Travis and Jennifer Melvin laid out their claims to damages in paragraph 23 of their complaint. The Melvin’s attorney, Robert Pahlke, told the Bulletin in November that the reason the Melvins waited ten years before filing the lawsuit is that their daughter’s care had consumed all of their attention, and that they were constantly afraid of losing her. Now that she was older, the Melvins worried what would happen to her if something were to happen to them. They do not want their daughter to ever be forced to live in a group home or become a ward of the state, so they filed suit. The lawsuit The complaint, filed Friday, Nov. 6 in Lincoln County District Court, does not stipulate the exact amount of damages that Travis and Jennifer Melvin are seeking on behalf of themselves and their daughter, now 11. However, the document does dispute Nebraska Statute 44-2825, which caps the amount of damages recoverable in a malpractice suit at $1.25 million. According to the lawsuit, the Melvins’ daughter was born in June 1998, a few weeks premature but otherwise healthy. Ten months later, the infant began experiencing seizures, but the suit claims that beyond the seizures the child remained healthy and happy. On December 3, 1999, the Melvins took their child to the emergency room at GPRMC due to a fever and flushed cheeks. The court papers describe the child’s demeanor as “subdued.” A complete blood count with differential was ordered. The suit stated that the child was then sent home from the hospital by the defendants, with instructions to bring her to their office the following day. It goes on to say that on December 4, 1999, the defendants noted that the child was, “extremely obtunded last night, didn’t respond to pokes for blood draws, just was limp.” The lawsuit said that she was diagnosed with what “appears to be a little viral illness.” Dailey, who was involved with the Perry/Shepherd practice at that time, misdiagnosed the Melvins’ daughter, the document stated. It was all the defendants’ responsibility to supervise, manage and train Dailey properly, the lawsuit claimed. It also said that Perry misdiagnosed the child, as well. Through December 13 the defendants continued to provide care to the child. She suffered from temperatures as high as 105 degrees, the suit claimed. It also stated that lab results indicated that the cause for the child’s condition was likely an infectious process. However, the suit said that despite the evidence and despite requests from the Melvins, the defendants failed to provide antibiotic treatment at any time. On December 14, 1999, the severity of their daughter’s condition prompted the Melvin’s to drive her to Children’s Hospital in Omaha without a referral from either Dailey or Perry. As a result of negligence, the suit alleged, the child developed large abscesses the size of golf and billiard balls on her right kidney. Since the infection was not properly diagnosed and treated, it said, her right kidney had to be removed. The child also suffered brain damage, among other bodily injuries. The Melvins are seeking on behalf of their daughter damages for the permanent injuries to her kidney and brain she suffered, allegedly due to the defendants. They also seek past and future medical expenses and attendant care. The suit said “she will require care 24 hours a day, 365 days each and every year for the rest of her life.” Compensation for the child’s lost future earning capacity, permanent disability, pain and suffering, and emotional injuries is sought as well.
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