The Rainier School in Buckley has answered a lawsuit accusing the facility of killing one of its clients by ignoring the medical advice given to it by the client’s doctor.

The estate of JoHanna Pratt filed the lawsuit in the Pierce County Superior Court in October 2020, and filed an amended complaint on Dec. 13, 2020. Also named as defendants are the Washington state Department of Social and Health Services and Megan DeSmet, the current superintendent of the Rainier School.

According to the lawsuit, Pratt was a resident of the Rainier School from 2012 to November 2017, when she died.

On Nov. 3, Pratt underwent an outpatient foot surgery known as a “McBride bunionectomy,” returning to the Rainier School on the same day.

“Prior to and again following JoHanna’s surgery, her podiatrist provided written instructions to Rainier School staff emphasizing that they should seek immediate medical attention for JoHanna if she developed any symptoms of shortness of breath,” the lawsuit reads. “These warnings were consistent with medical standards of care relating to the well-known risk of Deep Vein Thrombosis, a medical condition occurring when a blot clot forms in the blood vessels of the leg. The condition is life threatening if the clot travels through blood vessels into the lungs, where it can cause a fatal pulmonary embolism.”

But that medical advice was ignored, the suit continues.

On Nov. 7, four days after the surgery, Pratt reported to a nurse that “she was having a hard time breathing.” However, the nurse taking care of Pratt only noted that her heart rate was at 116 and “she had difficulty breathing and that she was experiencing some anxiety”; no further medical care was provided, the suit alleges.

Roughly 24 hours later, Pratt again reported she was short of breath and had pain in her chest. Nurses assessed her vitals and called 911. EMTs arrived and got her into the ambulance, which was when Pratt went into cardiac arrest. According to the lawsuit, EMTs performed CPR for more than half an hour before pronouncing her dead.

“JoHanna’s Death Certificate lists her cause of death as ‘Pulmonary Embolism — post-podiatric surgery,’” the lawsuit reads. “If Rainier staff had sought immediate medical assistance for JoHanna when her shortness of breath first occurred, her life would have been saved.”

The lawsuit appears to rely on two supplemental reports regarding Pratt’s death.

One from the Washington Developmental Disability Administration “concluded that the Rainier nurse who examined JoHanna in the evening of November 7, 2017, following her complaints of shortness of breath should have notified a Rainier doctor.”

The other from Washington’s Aging and Long-Term Support Administration “concludes that ‘based on record review and interview, the facility failed to ensure an appropriate medical care plan for after surgery for [JoHanna]’” and “’[t]his failure placed the client at risk of harm and may have potentially contributed to her death.’”

DSHS and the Rainier School filed its reply on Dec. 22, 2020.

According to their response, the defendants admit that Pratt’s doctor provided the facility with instructions to call him if “she experienced vomiting, itching, shortness of breath, fever, chills, and/or night sweats,” but deny the allegation that warnings for shortness of breath were emphasized.

The defendants also admit that Pratt died of a pulmonary embolism, but deny any allegation that the Rainier School “failed to follow accepted health care provider standard of care.”

The defendants are asking the judge to dismiss the case with prejudice — meaning it can’t be re-filed — on several grounds, including that the claim failed to name Pratt’s doctor as a party member to the lawsuit.

“The Defendants allege that Plaintiff Estate has failed to include an indispensable party and therefore its action will not lie,” court documents read. “The Defendants allege that the damages and/or injuries, if any, were caused by the fault of a nonparty… and whose identity is Bryon L. Hutchinson, DMP.”

JoHanna Pratt estate v. Rainier School — Defendants answer by Ray Still on Scribd