Local ER doctor found negligent in 1997 death

By Carey Phillips

The verdict against Dr. J.C. Rodden came in a case involving 19-year-old Thomas Collins, who died May 1, 1997, of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

Following the verdict, attorneys for both sides reached an out-of-court settlement on damages. Those terms were not disclosed, though a court document indicates Rodden made an offer to settle for $70,000 before the verdict was rendered.

The original suit, filed by Sonya Collins on behalf of her late husband's estate, named as defendants Rodden, Harris Regional Hospital, Angel Medical Center in Franklin and Dr. Ronald Dewhurst, an emergency room physician at Angel. Out-of-court settlements were reached with Harris, Angel and Dewhurst.

"All I can tell you is that those cases were resolved," Raleigh attorney Don Beskind, who represented the Collins estate, said of the cases against Harris, Angel and Dewhurst. "That's lawyerese for they weren't dismissed. They were resolved, but settlement terms were confidential."

According to the suit, Collins was treated and released at Angel's emergency room on April 23, 1997. He complained of a fever, headache and various other symptoms and was diagnosed with tonsillitis and pyrexia.

When he returned to the Angel ER the next day, he was again treated and released, this time diagnosed with a viral syndrome, the suit states.

Collins' symptoms persisted and he went to the Harris Regional ER on April 26 and was seen by Rodden. Collins was diagnosed with a viral illness and hepatitis and released, according to the suit. He went back to the Angel ER on April 27 as his symptoms had worsened. He was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit before being transferred to Memorial Mission Hospital in Asheville. He died there on May 1.

"Ms. Collins was certainly grateful that 12 people in Jackson County thought this is what should happen," said Asheville attorney Sean Devereaux, a member of the Collins legal team. "She felt all along that Thomas was too sick to come home that night."

It was not until the April 27 visit to Angel that medical personnel asked questions about ticks, Devereaux said. Ms. Collins responded that her husband had been in the woods where he could have been exposed to ticks.

"There's not a simple test that you can do on the spot," Devereaux said of diagnosing the disease. "It's bacterial and not viral."

Rodden testified he "really wasn't thinking about tick bites before the first of May," Devereaux said.

Charlotte attorneys Scott Stevenson and Steve Meckler, who represented Rodden, were out of their offices and unavailable for comment.

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