GREENVILLE —The plaintiff rested their case in a medical malpractice trial against Wayne HealthCare in Darke County Common Pleas Court on Thursday. Judge Jonathan P. Hein presided.
Kyle Dillman, son of late New Weston resident Tisha K. Gibson, filed suits against Wayne HealthCare Physician’s Assistant James Zimmerman and Wayne HealthCare on count one of wrongful death and count two of personal injury in May 2019.
The charges followed Gibson’s day-long stint in the Wayne HealthCare Emergency Department (ED) on May 30, 2018, in which her chief complaints were allegedly “dizziness,” “palpitations,” a “headache” and “shortness of breath.” Gibson was treated by Zimmerman during her stay in the ED, and after he looked after her, and she was given fluids, Zimmerman discharged Gibson home with a diagnosis of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo and some prescriptions for nausea and dizziness at approximately 6 p.m. According to her witness testimony on Tuesday, Gibson’s daughter Megan Goewert went to her mother’s the next day at approximately 1 p.m. to check on her and found her deceased.
Gibson’s estate is alleging that Zimmerman did not clear her for all potential life-threatening problems prior to her discharge, such as a pulmonary embolism, from which her estate claims she died.
A pulmonary embolism occurs when a blood clot gets lodged in an artery in the lung, blocking blood flow to part of the lung. Common symptoms of pulmonary embolism are fast heart rate, shortness of breath, palpitations, chest pain and low oxygen levels.
Brian Dillman and Kyle Dillman, Gibson’s sons, as well as Dr. Bruce Wainer, forensic pathologist and neuropathologist, were the plaintiff’s final witnesses on Thursday.
Gibson’s sons testified about their loving relationship with their mother.
Kyle, Gibson’s oldest, said not only did his mother never miss any of his school functions, but she also always came up with fun things for his family to do in their free time.
“Anything she could take us to to have some fun, she would do it,” he said.
In his testimony, Dr. Wainer discussed the autopsy performed by Montgomery County Coroner Dr. Kent Harshbarger.
Dr. Harshbarger determined in the autopsy that Gibson’s cause of death was bilateral pulmonary thromboembolism. Dr. Wainer told the jury he agreed with this opinion.
“In my opinion, based on a reasonable degree of medical certainty, the immediate cause of death was bilateral pulmonary embolism due to deep vein thrombosis,” Dr. Wainer said.
Court will reconvene at 9 a.m. on Friday.
