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ASG/LBJ respond to $7 million lawsuit
Tuesday,
June 23, 2009
The defendants in the $7 million malpractice lawsuit filed by the family of a young man who died after an operation at the LBJ Hospital in 2007, have asked the court to dismiss the suit with prejudice.
Assistant Attorney General Kevin Kornegay on behalf of the American Samoa Government and the LBJ Hospital filed a response to the suit last Friday.
Among the arguments put forward for dismissal is that the tort claim filed by the plaintiffs’ attorney on March 18, 2009 did not comply with applicable provisions of the code and regulations therefore the plaintiffs have failed to exhaust their administrative remedies. The defendants also deny allegations made in the lawsuit that doctors who performed the medical procedure on Sanerivi Amosa Jr. did not act with the proper standard of care and or committed any acts of negligence or malpractice.
The defendants said that the plaintiffs’ claims are barred by the Statute of Limitations, they have failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted and their claims are barred by several points of law. The ask the court to dismiss the suit with prejudice and award reasonable attorney fees and any other relief that the court deems fit.
The lawsuit was brought by the parents and siblings of Sanerivi Amosa jr., who died a few days after an operation to remove temporary lobe abscess. The suit alleges that the LBJ doctors who performed the operation had no experience in head trauma or head bleedings yet went ahead and performed the operation any way. It says the doctors and personnel treating the victim failed to exercise due and diligent care of the deceased during the crucial times he required medical care at LBJ.
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