Couple sues MSHA
From Staff Reports
An Elizabethton couple has filed a lawsuit against
Mountain States Health Alliance and a Johnson City doctor
because they claim one of them received improper treatment
for a broken arm last year.
Filed in Carter County Circuit Court on Monday,
plaintiffs Curtis and Peggy Emmert are seeking $750,000 against
Sycamore Shoals Hospital and Michael Barwick, M.D. The suit
alleges negligence against both defendants regarding medical
care Curtis Emmert received after injuring his wrist on Jan.
24, 2003.
According to the lawsuit, Emmert injured his
wrist when he fell on a patch of ice outside his home. He
was taken to the emergency department of Sycamore Shoals Hospital
where he was diagnosed with a broken bone in his left arm.
Barwick performed a closed reduction of the fracture and applied
a splint to the arm, according to the lawsuit. Emmert was
later discharged from the emergency department.
The lawsuit says Barwick never obtained "appropriate
reduction" of Curtis Emmert's left arm and placed the arm
in a split where the fracture remained "unstable". The suit
alleges negligence on behalf of the defendants resulted in
Emmert's "loss of meaningful use of his left hand and wrist"
and has resulted in substantial medical costs to the plaintiffs.
The lawsuit seeks $750,000 in damages and a jury
to try the case. Attorney Olen G. Hayes of Johnson City filed
the suit on behalf of the Emmerts.
