OTTUMWA — A Wapello County jury has awarded monetary damages to a New London woman and her sons in a civil lawsuit against Dr. Jeanne Lynn Birchmier.

The jury awarded $65,000 to Candace L. Morrison and her two sons, Clayton and Clinton.

In the file at the Wapello County Clerk of Court’s office, the seven-member jury signed a special verdict form and stated that Birchmier, a doctor of osteopathy, was negligent and that her negligence was a “proximate cause of damage to “the Morrisons.”

The jurors specified $50,000 for Morrison’s “past physical and mental pain and suffering” and $7,500 each for “loss of consortium” (loss of support and companionship) for her two sons. The jury awarded nothing to Morrison’s husband, Kenneth, for any of his claimed loss.

The jury awarded nothing to Morrison concerning “past ... or future loss of function of the body” or “future physical and mental pain and suffering.“

The Morrisons’ grounds for a claim started June 4, 2003, when Candace Morrison was admitted to Ottumwa Regional Health Center by Birchmier. She was there for an outpatient elective tubal ligation, according to the petition filed by Morrison’s attorneys, James P. Hayes and Karen A. Lorenzen of Iowa City.

A “tubal ligation” is a method of female sterilization in which the fallopian tubes are surgically tied.

The petition claimed an “operative report” noted “bleeding during laparoscopic surgery” from two sites; and, that the doctor closed off both sites with a stitch, according to Morrison’s attorneys.

Later the same day, Morrison returned to the hospital due to severe abdominal pain. She was admitted for 24-hour observation and received pain medication. Nursing notes indicated her temperature increased as did the bruising at the incision, the petition stated.

During that time, her pain and temperature increased. By 5 p.m. June 5, Morrison had a fever and the area where blood had collected outside of vessels had grown in size and was “painful and warm to the touch.”

The petition also stated Birchmier referred Morrison to Dr. R. Blommer for possible pneumonia. But, Blommer ruled out pneumonia and sent Morrison back to Birchmier with post-operative abdominal pain and fever. Blommer also recommended a CT scan of her abdomen.

About the time of the CT scan, Morrison’s family demanded she be transferred to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City. The CT scan “suggested bowel perforation and an abscess in the left lower abdomen,” according to the petition.

Then Birchmier recognized signs of peritonitis, which is an inflammation of the membrane that lines the abdominal cavity.

Iowa City doctors found two small bowel perforations and a large amount of bowel content that had spilled into the abdominal cavity. Morrison had to have about 10 centimeters of her small bowel removed, had a difficult recovery, and had to undergo additional surgery in April 2004 for hernia repair and to close her wound.

To date, Morrison’s attorneys said, she is suffering from pain and numbness on the right side of her abdomen and is unable to work.