S.C. Supreme Court: Rock Hill woman with brain damage for 12 years can’t sue hospital, 2nd doctor

A Rock Hill woman who has been incapacitated with brain damage for 12 years cannot go forward with a malpractice lawsuit against a doctor and Piedmont Medical Center because of the statute of limitations, according to a ruling Wednesday by the S.C. Supreme Court.

Kristy Orlowski was found unresponsive in her home in September 2003 when she was 22 years old and 36 weeks’ pregnant, the state Supreme Court order shows. She had visited a doctor the day before, complaining of headaches, dizziness, nausea and swelling of her hands and feet – all symptoms of pre-eclampsia – but was sent home, according to court documents.

Her baby was delivered by emergency cesarean section and she remained hospitalized until November 2003, court documents show.

The next day she was re-admitted and hospitalized until Dec. 8, 2003, when after cardiac arrest she “suffered permanent and severe brain damage” and still requires around-the-clock care, court papers state.

The conservator for Orlowski sued one doctor in 2006, months after Orlowski’s child died from severe health complications, court documents show. In that lawsuit, heard in 2009, the defense won, but Orlowski received $300,000 in what is called in court documents a “high-low arrangement.”

But the conservator filed a second lawsuit in 2009 against a second doctor and Piedmont Medical Center in Rock Hill, seeking damages for the same injuries, court documents show. The conservator argued that Orlowski had eight years to file a second suit because of her incapacity.

The doctor and the hospital have denied any wrongdoing and claimed Orlowski had already sought to prove her injuries came from the first doctor and the three-year statute of limitations had run out, the ruling states.

This story was originally published August 12, 2015 at 4:03 PM with the headline "S.C. Supreme Court: Rock Hill woman with brain damage for 12 years can’t sue hospital, 2nd doctor."