Edward Ricci Opens Med Mal Trial Against Docs Accused of Negligence Surrounding Ectopic Pregnancy

Edward Ricci outlines the delays surrounding an ectopic pregnancy that he says left a Florida woman unable to conceive, during openings at trial against the doctors that treated her. 

Stacey Santangelo-Santana underwent surgery in September 2014 to treat an ectopic pregnancy, a non-viable pregnancy outside the uterus, which required the removal of her right fallopian tube. Because an earlier ectopic pregnancy had led to the removal of her left tube, the 2014 incident has left her unable to conceive children naturally. 

In August 2014, tests showed Santangelo-Santana was pregnant, but because imaging showed no fetus in her uterus, Exodus staff believed she suffered a miscarriage. Dr. Dawn Ericsson performed follow-up treatment on the miscarriage diagnosis, which included taking uterine tissue samples. Dr. Robert Ruffalo, a pathologist at Brandon Regional Hospital, flagged that sample as a potential ectopic pregnancy requiring urgent follow-up and entered the results in the hospital's electronic records system.

However, Ricci told jurors Ruffalo never called Exodus about the potentially catastrophic complication. “A reasonably careful pathologist doesn’t just fax [the report] in, doesn’t just leave it on the [electronic medical records system] for people to go find it,” he said, adding that a ruptured fallopian tube could have resulted in catastrophic bleeding. “When it’s life threatening and somebody’s life is on the line, you pick up the phone. And he didn’t do it.”

Ricci said Ericsson never checked the pathology report. And her colleague, Dr. Stephen Wagner, an Exodus doctor who examined Santangelo-Santana during a follow-up visit a week later, also failed to inquire about the report, which was not in her file. “It was his expectation that Dr. Ericsson would look at this pathology report with this critical, life-threatening condition that is screaming for treatment,” Ricci said.  

Those communication issues, Ricci noted, delayed Santangelo-Santana’s ectopic pregnancy treatment for nearly a month. “There was a horrifically long delay in treating this ectopic pregnancy,” Ricci said, adding that prompt reporting and treatment could have saved the tube. 

The defense argued communication protocol was followed, and jurors ultimately cleared the physicians.