A Cumberland County jury ruled Thursday that a Brunswick health provider’s negligence four years ago partly led to the death of a 15-year-old, whose mother they awarded $25 million in damages.
Lyndsey Sutherland sued Mid Coast Medical Group, which she argued was negligent four years ago when treating her daughter Jasmine Vincent, who had been experiencing sore, swollen breasts and veins on top of respiratory issues.
Sutherland had requested damages for the loss of her daughter and her companionship, and for how her daughter’s death has affected her. The jury reached the verdict after deliberating for an hour.
Sutherland was not in the courtroom Thursday evening. Her attorney Meryl Poulin called her from the hallway, where the clerk’s desks were already shuttered after the courthouse closed at 4 p.m.
“This was for Jazzy,” Sutherland could be heard saying repeatedly, through tears.
“They provided justice for this mother and daughter, that is really just unbelievable,” Poulin told the Press Herald. “That’s really what Lyndsey has continued forward for, to fight for her daughter, to fight for justice for her, and to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
An attorney for Mid Coast declined to comment Thursday evening.
Vincent died on Aug. 1, 2021. Testing revealed she had an acute form of pediatric leukemia, which hadn’t been diagnosed before her death.
Sutherland’s lawyers said Mid Coast had an obligation to investigate what was happening to Vincent, whose combination of symptoms the doctors had never before seen in a teenage girl. Instead, a gynecologist diagnosed Vincent with gynecomastia, which is commonly found in men using anabolic steroids.
Vincent was diagnosed without an X-ray or a basic check of her heart rate and vitals. The gynecologist testified Tuesday that she did not consult any medical literature or review Vincent’s patient records, the latter of which Sutherland’s attorney said were faxed to Mid Coast but never made it to the gynecologist.
“We don’t hold doctors to lower standards than we hold other members of the community,” Sutherland’s attorney Benjamin Gideon said in court before the verdict. “Being a doctor, as we all know, carries great privilege, great stature … but with that also comes responsibilities.”
Jasmine was referred to Mid Coast’s gynecology office on July 26, 2021, by her primary care provider at Martin’s Point in southern Maine.
Mid Coast’s attorney, Matthew Wahrer, said the facility and its gynecologist, Dr. Danielle Salhany, had a limited role in the teen’s care.
Wahrer emphasized Jasmine spent the most time with Martin’s Point, where they had diagnosed her with pneumonia and prescribed prednisone, a steroid-based, anti-inflammatory medication, a week before she visited Mid Coast.
Sutherland had also sued Martin’s Point but dropped it from the case ahead of trial, according to court records.
Martin’s Point has declined to comment.
Salhany acted appropriately based on everything she knew and her limited role as a gynecologist, Wahrer said.
“They don’t have the benefit of hindsight. They don’t know what the outcome will be when they’re treating a patient,” Wahrer said of Salhany and other doctors. “For that reason, it would be unfair to judge … based upon what we know now in hindsight.”
Wahrer said Salhany gave Vincent a plan for after the visit, which included following up with Martin’s Point.
Sutherland called Martin’s Point the following day, and again several more times that week as the girl’s symptoms worsened. On July 30, a nurse at Martin’s Point told her staff to call Sutherland and advise her to take her daughter to the ER.
That message wasn’t given to Sutherland until the following day, when Sutherland called back. Wahrer suggested that if Martin’s Point had followed up with Sutherland sooner, that also could have led to an X-ray and a timely diagnosis.
Gideon urged the jury to focus only on Mid Coast.
“Martin’s Point is not on trial here,” Gideon said in his closing arguments. “At the end of the day, if Martin’s Point did something wrong, that’s a choice you have to make, but that’s not a decision you’re going to be asked to make in this case.”
Sutherland’s lawyers called on three experts during the trial, who testified that Vincent likely would have survived her cancer if it had been diagnosed sooner.
Mid Coast called one expert Thursday: Dr. Elizabeth Moore, a gynecologist in Massachusetts who challenged expert testimony from earlier in the week that gynecomastia is a diagnosis for men. She testified that she has diagnosed some women with the condition, although never teenagers and never linked to prednisone use.
Sutherland’s lawyers questioned Moore’s credibility, pointing out her work for a company that helped write prescriptions for hormonal creams not approved by the Food and Drug Administration and selling $7,500 masterclass sessions teaching doctors to become legal experts.
This story was originally published by the Maine Trust for Local News. Emily Allen can be reached at [email protected].
