University of Iowa physicians to pay $2M after woman dies following MRI

IOWA CITY — The State Appeal Board agreed Monday to a $2 million settlement with the daughters of a Muscatine woman who died in 2018 from an allergic reaction to a contrast dye administered during an MRI at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

UI Physicians — a UI Carver College of Medicine-based medical and surgical group of 1,000-plus doctors, which owns an insurance company established to provide them medical malpractice coverage — will cover the full amount, as the group hasn’t yet reached its $15 million annual cap.

That cap recently went up from $9 million under a new seven-year deal with the state, which also upped the per-claim cap from $5 to $6 million. With the new settlement, UI Physicians has paid out $4.3 million for the year.

According to the deal, the family wanted $99 million — primarily for loss of consortium, along with pain and suffering. A state Attorney General review of jury verdicts in similar matters ranged from $375,000 to nearly $30 million, with an average of $6.5 million.

“The recent law that was passed that limits non-economic damages awards does not apply in this case,” according to a recommendation from Deputy Attorney General Stan Thompson.

Katherine Decker, 70, went to UIHC for an outpatient magnetic resonance imaging — or MRI — study of a suspicious mass in her breast Dec. 12, 2018, according to the family’s lawsuit. For the procedure, UIHC staffers administered intravenously gadobutrol, a contrast dye, after which Decker began to “experience problems.”

Although she had been still during earlier scans — before the dye — Decker began to move after the dye was administered “before becoming completely still,” according to the lawsuit.

“Eight minutes later, at 11:18 a.m., a code blue was finally called,” according to the lawsuit, reporting Decker endured various degrees of heart rhythm irregularities and weakening for the next nearly 40 minutes. UIHC staff administered various medications, including epinephrine, and “a total of seven shocks.”

“Mrs. Decker was coded for approximately 40 minutes, at which point she was sent to the emergency department,” according to the lawsuit. “Mrs. Decker was pronounced dead at 10:48 a.m. on December 13, 2018.”

An autopsy found Decker likely died of “anaphylactic reaction due to gadolinium exposure” that resulted in “brain injury” and other complications.

Decker’s daughters, in their lawsuit, accused the university and its employees of negligence for failing to diagnose and treat their mother’s condition in a timely and proper manner. They also said they weren’t warned of the risks.

UI Health Care denied those allegations, asserting radiology technologists assessed and recognized Decker’s adverse reactions and responded appropriately, according to the settlement.

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