CHCC dismissed from medical malpractice suit

The Superior Court has dismissed the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. from a medical malpractice lawsuit filed by a woman who was allegedly misdiagnosed for weeks, resulting in her undergoing emergency surgery.

Bernadita T. Palacios filed the complaint in Superior Court against the CHCC and Marianas Medical Center last month for allegedly failing to diagnose her symptoms of appendicitis, which later resulted in complications that warranted surgery.

However, Superior Court Associate Judge Wesley Bogdan has since granted the stipulation filed by Palacios and CHCC requesting that the court dismiss CHCC from the lawsuit without prejudice. This leaves MMC as the only defendant in this case.

Dismissal without prejudice means the charges against CHCC cannot be refiled.

Palacios is now only suing MMC for negligence, medical malpractice, and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

According to Palacios in court documents, she went to CHCC on March 29, 2021, to seek medical care for the abdominal pain she had been experiencing.

Palacios’ lawyer, Anthony Aguon, argues that the abdominal pain presented a clear sign of appendicitis, but despite his client’s symptoms, CHCC did not perform any tests to determine whether she did suffer from appendicitis.

“Instead, CHCC prescribed methocarbamol, a muscle relaxant, and recommended Tylenol, a pain reliever, and told her to see her personal care doctor in 1-2 weeks,” said Aguon.

On March 30, 2021, Palacios went to Marianas Medical Center seeking medical care for the same concern, abdominal pain and loose stool.

“The abdominal pain presented a clear sign of appendicitis. However, despite Palacios’ expressed symptoms, MMC did not perform a test to determine whether she did suffer from appendicitis. Instead, Palacios was only prescribed pain medication, which made her appendicitis worse,” Aguon argues.

On April 5, 2021, Palacios said she described her pain to her daughter-in-law, a nurse, who instructed her to touch her abdomen to find out if she felt any pain.

After determining that her abdomen was painful enough to touch, Palacios’ daughter-in-law told Palacios to rush to the hospital as she recognized the symptoms of appendicitis.

At CHCC, Palacios was diagnosed with acute complicated appendicitis with perforation and abscess and had to undergo surgery as it was determined that her diagnosis was life-threatening.

Palacios claims that, due to the misdiagnosis, she suffered severe emotional distress.

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