KDSN RADIO News
$1.2 million legal settlement after Iowa City teen’s death following misdiagnosis
.jpg)
State officials have agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by the parents of a teenager who died four years ago after University of Iowa Health Care staff misdiagnosed her symptoms as likely related to COVID-19.
Seventeen-year-old Emma Nugent of Iowa City died of a pulmonary embolism. Her parents will be paid $1.2 million to settle their lawsuit. A deputy attorney general said the state’s potential financial exposure could be “substantial” if the case was heard by a jury.
In the spring of 2020, the teenager had several in-person and telehealth appointments with University of Iowa Health Care doctors and nurses. According to the lawsuit, Nugent told them she was having chest pains and shortness of breath and was taking an oral contraceptive with a potential side effect of causing blood clots. None of the COVID tests she took showed she had the virus, but Nugent was repeatedly diagnosed with “suspected COVID.”
The State Appeal Board approved the settlement with Nugent’s parents late this afternoon. The Cedar Rapids Gazette has reported that the Nugent’s daughter collapsed and died in July of 2020 after trying on clothes for her senior pictures.
