Hospital agrees to pay $10M over woman’s death
Kristen Owens AKRON — entered an Akron hospital for help with her anxiety and depression six days — later she was dead.
The ordeal began with the 33-year-old wife and mother of two going to an outpatient group therapy session at Summa Health System’s St. Thomas Hospital. It ended when the Alliance woman was removed from life support, after she had suffered brain damage while being cared for at Summa’s Akron City Hospital.
Seeking answers in Kristen’s death on Oct. 19, 2017, her husband, Aaron Owens, sued Summa in Summit County Common Pleas Court.
Summa has agreed to $10 million to settle the lawsuit, according to documents filed in Stark County Probate Court, which is overseeing finances of her estate.
According to the civil lawsuit from Canton’s Tzangas, Plakas, Mannos law firm:
Summa treated Kristen for a psychiatric issue, but staff didn’t recognize her increasingly odd behavior may have been caused by something else. Namely, they didn’t run tests that could have revealed her blood sugar level had crashed to a dangerous low. By the time they did, it was too late; her hypoglycemic condition had created swelling in her brain, causing permanent damage.
Megan J. Frantz Oldham and Collin S. Wise, attorneys who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Kristen’s estate, said they would not comment this week on the case.
A Summa spokesman provided an emailed written statement: “I can confirm that we have reached a settlement with the estate of Mrs. Owens. We accept responsibility in this matter and our thoughts remain with the family.”
Court filings and depositions from witnesses, including nurses who cared for Kristen, provide this timeline:
■ On Oct. 12, Kristen became nauseous during therapy, so she was transported to Akron City. The next day, she was moved to a psychiatric unit at nearby St. Thomas. However, a fire at that facility required patients to be transported to Akron City to continue their treatment there.
■ Her psychiatric condition changed on Oct. 14. Kristen, who happens to be a registered nurse herself, began identifying herself in third-person, stumbling and not responding to nurses. She also became agitated and combative, so staff nurse placed her in a leather restraint and gave her Zyprexa, an antipsychotic medication.
■ While restrained, Kristen began foaming at the mouth, before falling asleep. Early on Oct. 15, Kristen was deemed not awake enough to take scheduled doses of medicine.
■ At 6 a.m., staff tried, but failed to wake her; 25 minutes later a rapid response team was summoned to the room and Kristen was taken to the intensive care unit.
“Ultimately it was determined that Kristen’s nonresponsive (state) was due to severe hypoglycemia with blood sugar level of 4, which is incompatible with human life,” the suit alleged. “Kristen’s brain damage was extensive, and her family was told there was no hope of survival ... life support was discontinued.”
The complaint alleges Kristen died because of Summa staff ’s error in medicating her or due to Summa’s negligence to properly and safely store medication.
During interviews with staff members, estate attorneys said Kristen was not diabetic — and pointed out her blood sugar could have crashed if she’d wrongly been injected with insulin, a common medicine to regulate blood sugar in diabetics.
In a Probate Court filing, Frantz Oldham stated Summa “misled the Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office into believing there was no need for an autopsy ... “when the hospital advised that a physician there would sign her death certificate.