LOS ANGELES (CN) – Kaiser’s negligent care resulted in her mother’s wrongful death, a bereaved daughter claims in her lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Janet Pacell sued Michael Abraham Aleman, M.D., Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Southern California Permanente Medical Group for wrongful death and medical malpractice.

According to the action, plaintiff Pacell is the surviving daughter of Eleanor Muraca, who died while under Kaiser defendants’ care.

Muraca, a Kaiser member, had a CT scan on her abdomen on Dec. 11, 2015, and she was reportedly told by her physician, defendant Aleman, that “everything looks OK,” the suit states. 

In May 2017, Muraca had a number of appointments with Aleman due to her complaints about pain during urination. She was given antibiotics for an infection, but a Kaiser nurse later phoned her and took her off the antibiotic because she did not have an infection. The symptoms persisted, so Muraca asked Aleman for “some type of diagnostic procedure.” Aleman ordered a CT scan, which revealed a mass in her bladder, according to the complaint.

On June 8, 2017, Muraca had a biopsy procedure and was sent home with a catheter. She returned three days later for removal of the catheter and a stent that had been placed. The next day she went to Kaiser’s emergency room and was admitted to the hospital, with a diagnosis of urosepsis, a serious complication of a urinary tract infection that can be life-threatening.

The action notes that Muraca was sent home from the hospital on June 17 with swollen feet and legs. On June 22, Muraca saw Dr. Feng, the head of the Urology Department at Kaiser’s Baldwin Park Medical Center. “At no time did defendant Aleman or any of defendant Kaiser’s doctors or nurses advise decedent of the results of her June 8, 2017 biopsy of the mass in her bladder.”

On July 7, after Muraca was examined by Kaiser’s Los Angeles Urology Department, she was reportedly told that she had bladder cancer, cancer of the left ureter and possibly the left kidney. She had surgery in August 2017 to remove her bladder, lymph nodes, and uterus, the suit states. 

Nevertheless, the complaint claims, Muraca died on April 20, 2019 due to defendants’ negligent treatment.

Pacell seeks general and pecuniary damages, medical and related expenses, interest and legal costs and fees. 

The plaintiff is represented by Peter R. Nasmyth, Jr. of the Law Office of Peter R. Nasmyth, Jr., in Claremont, California.