Patient sues doctor, Aspen Valley Hospital for $4 million

A California man is suing Aspen Valley Hospital and its former chief surgeon for $4 million as part of a medical-negligence lawsuit filed last week in federal court.

Laurence Niles, 79, of Pacific Palisades, California, claims the hospital botched its treatment of him after he was admitted to the facilitys emergency room Feb. 17, 2013. As a result, he suffers from permanent brain injury and needs constant medical care, the suit alleges.

The lawsuit, which was filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court of Denver by Denver law firms Bogue Paoli & Thomas LLC and Ogborn Mihm LLP, comes after Niles attorneys gave the hospital notice on Aug. 12, 2013, that they planned to sue. The defendants are Dr. Bill Rodman, who could not be reached Monday, and the Aspen Valley Hospital District, which said it had not seen the complaint and declined to comment about it.

Niles was admitted to the hospital with a severe head injury, multiple rib fractures and other ailments from a ski collision, the suit says.

Doctors concluded he potentially was suffering from subarachnoid hemorrhaging, or bleeding of the brain.

The suit says the hospitals CAT scan was down Feb. 18 to Feb. 22 and was one of the causes of the failure to provide Niles with appropriate imaging studies during his hospitalization.

Rodman assumed responsibility for Niles on Feb. 20.

A decision was made by Defendant Rodman to keep Laurence Niles at Aspen Valley Hospital for further care and treatment rather than sending Mr. Niles to a medical facility that could provide a higher level of care, the suit says. Prior to Mr. Niles admission to Aspen Valley Hospital in February 2013, Aspen Valley Hospital had an established pattern of failing to transfer trauma patients and, in particular, head-trauma patients who required a higher level of care not provided by Aspen Valley Hospital to facilities that could offer that higher level of care.

On Feb. 23, Niles received a head CAT scan and hospital physicians determined he had brain damage, prompting them to have him airlifted to St. Marys Hospital in Grand Junction.

Niles was discharged from St. Marys on March 7 with a diagnosis of intracranial hemorrhage, which is bleeding within the skull.

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Patient sues doctor, Aspen Valley Hospital for $4 million