Family settles in wrongful death suit
- Publication: The Morning Call
- Date: 1994
- By: Rice-Mauer
The Attorney of an Allentown woman who died after undergoing an operation that was to alleviate heartburn was a week into presenting testimony to a Northampton County jury when a settlement was reached Monday.
“It’s settled and I’m not allowed to disclose any of the terms of the settlement,” said Todd Miller, who represented the mother and brother of Maritza Santiago.
When asked if he was pleased with the agreement, he said, “Yes. I’m very happy.”
Juana and Ulises Rivera, the 30-year-old Santiago’s mother and brother, filed suit on behalf of Santiago’s young daughter, Tyanne, who’s living with her father in an Allentown homeless shelter.
After the settlement was reached, Dr. Rafic Amro, who performed what an expert witness called the “surgical misadventure” on Santiago in January 1994, sat down on the floor outside Judge William F. Moran’s chambers and refused to leave until he received certain documents relating to the case.
At one point, he appeared to be praying.
Moran called him into the courtroom and, with a number of deputy sheriffs standing nearby, explained to him that if he wanted the autopsy report, exhibits that went with it and his depositions as well as those of others, he would have to properly petition the court through his attorney.
“I cannot discuss this case any further with you,” said Moran. “We will not permit disruption of the courtroom or the courtroom operations.”
The judge then ordered him out of the courtroom and the adjacent corridor area. Amro complied and subsequently left the building without incident, according to Sheriff Alfred Diomedo.
Attorney John McGreevey of Fort Washington, who was appointed by Amro’s insurance carrier to represent him, and Edward McCardle of Allentown, who represented Allentown Osteopathic Medical Center, now St. Luke’s Allentown Campus, could not be reached for comment.
Miller, in his lawsuit filed four months after Santiago’s death, said she had suffered with heartburn for about a year before visiting Amro, who diagnosed an inflamed esophagus and advised her to undergo surgery involving the lower esophagus and the stomach.
But during the surgery, the stomach burst, sending bacteria into her body that caused an infection that led to cardiac arrest.
Amro, said the suit, failed to diagnose and treat the infection and other medical problems she suffered after the surgery, which was unnecessary.
Before the surgery, he failed to perform tests, prescribe medications to treat the heartburn, and refer her to a gastroenterologist or other specialist in the field, Miller said in the suit.
