Malpractice suit details how second opinion saved a life
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A malpractice lawsuit filed in Las Vegas shows the value of getting a second opinion.
Stacy Norris had gone to Women’s Health Associates of Southern Nevada (WHASN) on Sept. 15, 2021, when she found out she was pregnant. A test that day confirmed it. But two days later, she went back when she was bleeding. The details are provided in a lawsuit filed Oct. 4 in Clark County District Court.
The lawsuit names Dr. Sheldon Paul, Women’s Health Associates of Southern Nevada – Martin, PLLC, Rose Street Multi-Specialty LLC and nurses Paige Cook and Jennifer Wagner.
An exam determined Norris had fibroid tumors, but Norris was told — although a pregnancy test came back positive again — there was no fetal heartbeat, the lawsuit said.
On Sept. 24, Norris went back for a follow-up that is detailed in the lawsuit. An ultrasound that day “allegedly showed no change/fetal growth and still no detectable” heart rate. Nurses told her she did not have a viable fetus. No pregnancy test was administered.
She saw Dr. Sheldon Paul on Sept. 29 and a D&C was performed, the lawsuit said. A D&C — dilation and curettage — is one method of ending a pregnancy.
Norris returned on Oct. 6, where she reported that she had very light bleeding after the D&C, but she had extreme pain and sharp abdominal pain. An ultrasound exam was performed, and a nurse told Norris, that when a “viable fetus does not form, SAB (spontaneous abortion) can not be prevented and that nothing could have been done to change the outcome.” A pregnancy test was not performed.
The nurse prescribed Cytotec, which would cause uterine contractions and “the subsequent passage of uterine contents,” according to the lawsuit.
At this point, Norris went to Centennial Hills Hospital to get a second opinion before filling the prescription.
“An ultrasound was performed at Centennial Hills Hospital which revealed a good heartbeat of a viable fetus,” the lawsuit said.
Her baby was delivered on April 12, 2022.
Mark Rouse, an attorney with the law offices Bighorn Law, represents Norris in the lawsuit and discussed the case with 8 News Now. He criticized the medical office’s practices and said physicians weren’t involved early enough in interpreting the ultrasound exams.
Furthermore, the patient had the test results before WHASN had them, Rouse said. “How this can happen in this day and age is just mind-boggling,” he said.
Rouse said all of Norris’s visits were handled by nurse practitioners, and Dr. Paul didn’t see her until the day the procedure was scheduled.
Attempts to get comment from McBride Hall, the law firm representing Dr. Paul, were not answered.
Norris, a practicing insurance defense attorney in Las Vegas, was under anesthesia during the DNC, and the effects on the baby are unknown.
Rouse also criticized the medical office for its practice of taking walk-in patients, which crowds the schedule without addressing the need for more staff.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
