University of Iowa Health Care settles negligence lawsuits for $3.5M

IOWA CITY — University of Iowa Health Care is paying a total of $3.5 million to settle two malpractice lawsuits — including one involving a 63-year-old Dubuque man who died in the operating room during a surgery to repair his broken leg.

“He went into cardiac arrest and could not be resuscitated,” according to a settlement the State Appeal Board approved Monday to pay Jeffrey Spahn’s family $1.5 million. “Mr. Spahn’s wife and adult children filed a malpractice lawsuit alleging that Mr. Spahn should have been anticoagulated before surgery and that warning signs during surgery should have led to the medical team stopping the surgery.”

A second malpractice settlement approved Monday will pay a 60-year-old Argyle woman $2 million after medication from her anesthesia IV leaked into surrounding tissue during a plastic surgery procedure in January 2021.

UIHC will cover both settlements under a seven-year limited self-insurance deal it made with the state in 2023 to have UI Physicians cover up to $6 million per claim and $15 million a year — above the previous caps of $5 million per claim and $9 million per year.

To date this budget year — which started July 1, 2024 and ends this month — UIHC has paid $7.3 million in settlements, none of which topped $6 million alone, meaning the state has paid nothing toward UIHC settlements this year.

At the end of the 2023 budget year, before the renegotiated deal, the state had paid $9.7 million toward UIHC claims — making up a majority of its total $13.7 million in settlements and judgments that year.

‘Surgery commenced and continued’

A trial in the Spahn lawsuit had been set for May 13 — two years after his wife and four adult children sued the state for its ownership of UIHC and the events there that preceded Spahn’s death on Dec. 1, 2020.

Two weeks earlier, Spahn had fallen and broken his leg while walking in the woods — receiving immediate care at UnityPoint Health Finley’s emergency room in Dubuque, according to the lawsuit.

Xrays there confirmed Spahn had suffered a high-risk fracture in his knee — bringing the threat of a blood clot and subsequent pulmonary embolism — along with a fracture in the fibula. He was referred to UIHC’s Department of Orthopedics and discharged without any medicine to reduce blood clots “other than the daily baby aspirin which he was already taking.”

He was seen at the university Nov. 18, when a CT scan confirmed the fractures and revealed prominent swelling and discoloration of the skin, plus a “number of fracture blisters.”

In preparation for his Dec. 1 surgery, Spahn stopped taking his daily aspirin Nov. 25, according to the lawsuit.

“While recognizing that Jeffrey Spahn was at risk of developing a (deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism) due to his fractures, limited mobility, and the lack of any prophylactic DVT measures, and despite problems with maintaining adequate oxygenation prior to surgery, anesthesia and surgery commenced and continued,” according to the lawsuit. “During surgery, Jeffrey Spahn continued to have increasing problems with oxygenation and it was finally determined that he was probably suffering from a pulmonary embolus.”

The lawsuit accuses the university and its doctors of negligence for failing to communicate Spahn’s needs, care for him, monitor him, and respond to his symptoms in time to save his life.

‘Permanent damage’

The lawsuit resulting in a $2 million settlement also was headed for trial in July — more than four years after Sheryl Pruin had plastic surgery at UIHC in January 2021.

The procedure involved a bilateral brachioplasty — or an arm lift; a breast lift with augmentation; and an excision of excess skin and subcutaneous tissue, according to the lawsuit.

After the procedure, a doctor identified an “extensive infiltration” related to the anesthesia IV that had been placed in her leg — meaning fluid had leaked into surrounding tissue instead of into the blood stream. As a result, Pruin was diagnosed with compartment syndrome — compelling surgeons to perform follow-up procedures to relieve pressure in the leg muscles.

“Due to her injuries, Sheryl Pruin has suffered daily pain and is currently using orthotics in her shoes and is required to use assistive devices to ambulate,” according to the lawsuit accusing the university of negligence.

“She had an extended recovery with claimed permanent damage,” according to the settlement approved Monday.

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

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