An Oregon-based provider is headed to court after failing to assist a patient deemed too large for its MR scanner.

Lawrence Jackson filed a $7 million lawsuit earlier this month in Multnomah County Circuit Court against Providence Health & Services on the grounds of medical negligence after being sent home from Providence St. Vincent Hospital for being too big to fit inside its MR machine.

Jackson, now a paraplegic, claims to have visited the hospital on Sept. 12, 2016, complaining of mid-to-lower back pain, a sharp ache, a 100.4-degree temperature, elevated pulse and blood pressure, chills and loss of appetite.
Upon being seen by a Dr. Thomas Calverley, an MR was recommended but not initiated as Jackson was deemed too big to fit inside the scanner and was instead sent home, only to be readmitted six days later to the hospital’s ER.

He was again seen by Calverley and resident Dr. Ivan Ivanovich Biley Jr., complaining of back pain as well as his legs giving out and causing him to sustain a fall earlier in the day. A CT scan of the lumbar spine revealed an inability to move the lower extremities while labs suggested the possibility of infection.

Staff transferred Jackson to OHSU Hospital for MR where doctors diagnosed him with low thoracic epidural abscess and prepped him for emergency surgery.

In his suit, Jackson claims the negligence of Providence in failing to transfer him to a facility with a larger MR scanner during his first visit caused his condition to progress to the point where he became a permanent paraplegic and has racked up medical bills of $1 million.

When reached by HCB News for comment, Providence declined, saying that it went against their policy for managing situations like this. “I cannot respond to any of these questions as Providence does not discuss pending litigation,” spokesperson Lisa Helderop said.

Just like Providence, a medical imaging firm in Delaware recently faced its own trial and was ordered to pay $16.2 million for administering contrast dye to patients during MR scans without proper supervision by a physician, and then intentionally submitting false claims for them to Medicare in exchange for reimbursement.

Jackson’s suit also mentions by name Oregon Emergency Physicians PC, which furnishes emergency clinician services for Providence St. Vincent Medical Center.

The suit was filed by Paulson Coletti Trial Attorneys PC, which did not respond for comment.

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