Doctors, hospital sued
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Recommend ThisBy J.R. Williams -- jrwilliams@nvdaily.com
WINCHESTER -- A New York state woman has filed a $2 million malpractice lawsuit against Winchester Medical Center in Frederick County Circuit Court.
Jennifer A. Pilc-Benzin names Dr. Jessica D. Edwards and Dr. Richard L. Fieo of Winchester Obstetrics and Gynecology as defendants in the lawsuit, which alleges improper care at the hospital required her to have a hysterectomy and led to the death of her baby girl at the University of Virginia Medical Center hours after she was born.
A separate $5 million wrongful-death lawsuit was filed in Charlottesville against that hospital, according to the complaint late last month.
The malpractice lawsuit was originally filed in U.S. District Court, but was withdrawn in March.
Hospital officials have denied any negligence in the case, according to an answer filed in the federal court.
According to the complaint, Pilc-Benzin had a fever of 101.7 degrees when she delivered her baby at Winchester Medical Center. She had previously told Fieo of symptoms of nausea, fever, leg cramps and the flu.
Pilc-Benzin alleges that the doctors should have taken this and other factors as evidence that she had a bacterial infection and given her antibiotics. Both she and her baby had Strep A infections, according to the complaint.
Pilc-Benzin "underwent numerous procedures, treatments and therapies at Winchester Medical Center and Inova Fairfax Hospital for her illnesses and ailments, including infections and complications therefrom, all of which were caused by the Defendants' negligent failure to diagnose and treat [Pilc-Benzin] in an appropriate and timely manner," the complaint says.
Pilc-Benzin, through a Charlottesville-based law firm, demands a jury trial.
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I am so sorry for all that Jennifer Pilc-Benzin has suffered, and the pain that she will bear the rest of her life, of the loss of her baby, the ability to have another biologic child, and the lifelong consequences of hysterectomy.
The uterus is not only a reproductive organ, it is a sex organ that supports the bladder and the bowel. Among the many functions of the uterus is providing cardiovascular protection. When the uterus is removed in women under the age of 50 they will have a 3X greater risk of cardiovascular disease.
I, and everyone at the HERS Foundation, wish you the very best outcome physically, psychologically and legally. Please contact HERS if we can be of any help to you.