D. M., as Father and Next

of M. M., a Minor,

Plaintiff,

vs

Evelyn Diaz, M.D., Geoffrey

Sebastian, M.D., Teresa

Stilling, M.D. and Holy

Cross Hospital,

Defendants.On February 3, 1997, Mr. D brought his twelve-year-old daughter (who was complaining about right-sided lower abdominal pain) to see Dr. Diaz at Southwestern Medical Center, where Dr. Diaz allegedly made a differential diagnosis of ovarian cyst or appendicitis, and ordered a pelvic ultrasound to be done the following 10th, and sent her home with a prescription of Cipro, an antibiotic, presumably for a urinary tract infection. On February 6, 1997, with his daughter's condition unimproved, Mr. D made a call to Dr. Diaz, and spoke to Dr. Sebastian (as Dr. Diaz was not available) who prescribed belladonna elixir for her.

On February 10, 1997, the ultrasound was performed at the Archer Diagnostic Clinic, which indicated normal right and left ovaries, but no attention was paid to her appendix. Apparently, Dr. Diaz was focusing on the possibility of an ovarian cyst.

Ms. M was next seen by Dr. Stilling at the Holy Cross Family Medical Center on February 11, 1997, who made a differential diagnosis of urinary tract infection or mesenteric adenitis, and performed a urinalysis which was negative, and also ordered an ultrasound of the right upper quadrant of her abdomen and kidneys, which was done the next day and turned out to be normal.

On February 14, 1997, Ms. M was admitted to Holy Cross Hospital and underwent an emergency laparotomy to evacuate a large pelvic abscess caused by her now burst appendix and remained hospitalized there until her discharge on the 22nd. And on the following 28th, she was readmitted to undergo another laparotomy to evacuate an intra-abdominal abscess and for lysis of adhesions.

Obviously, in his medical malpractice complaint filed on May 19, 1998, Mr. M claimed that the above titled doctors failed to timely diagnose and treat his daughter's appendicitis which resulted in a more severe illness and more extensive hospitalization that would not have been necessary if it had been diagnosed and treated sooner.

On November 30, 2001, all doctors were voluntarily dismissed, and on December 12, 2001, Holy Cross Hospital made a settlement of $192,500.