A stroke patient who was rushed last year to an Orange County hospital that specializes in treating strokes suffered major brain damage after waiting nearly eight hours for surgery because the medical center did not have the proper equipment or a capable neurosurgeon, according to a lawsuit.
The suit, filed Monday, May 19, against Orange County Global Medical Center, alleges the Santa Ana hospital did not have the “endovascular equipment” necessary to treat a bleeding aneurysm and was on a “credit hold” by the vendor who supplies it. Additionally, the on-call neurosurgeon was a spine doctor incapable of treating patient Khusro Jhumra, 51, the suit alleged.
Jhumra’s wife, Maliha Siddiqui, had to call a doctor friend to help find a capable neurosurgeon with privileges at Orange County Global. But by the time the surgery occurred, Jhumra had suffered major damage, making him incapable of caring for himself, according to the suit.
“A horrible tragedy, but an avoidable one,” said attorney Dan Hodes, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Jhumra and Siddiqui. “Had they operated as a certified stroke center should have, Khusro would have walked out of there the next day.”
An official for the hospital generally denied the allegations.
“The hospital disputes the specific claims from the lawsuit, but cannot comment further on pending litigation, ” said Dr. Tirso del Junco, chief medical officer of KPC Health, which owns Orange County Global and six other Southern California hospitals in the Global Medical Center system.
A review by the federal Department of Health and Human Services on Jhumra’s case found that the hospital failed to ensure “patients received care in a safe environment.”
The review noted that the alleged unavailability of supplies was not investigated until more than five months after the fact. Furthermore, privileges were granted to two neurosurgeons even though they did not meet qualifications, the report said.
“These failures created the risk for substandard healthcare outcomes to the patients in the hospital,” the review concluded.
Del Junco responded that Orange County Global Medical Center “fully cooperated” with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the California Department of Public Health, “and submitted a responsive plan of action, which has been accepted by both entities. As a level II trauma center critical to serving the community’s healthcare needs, we continuously strive to improve patient care.”
Jhumra was making plans with his family to celebrate his birthday on July 14, 2024, when he became unresponsive at his home in Orange County. (His wife has asked that their city of residence not be disclosed.)
One of his three children called 911 and paramedics arrived within five minutes. Siddiqui said in an interview that paramedics took Jhumra to Orange County Global because it is designated a “stroke receiving center,” bypassing at least one other hospital that was nearer.
In its online website, Orange County Global boasts of being one of fewer than 300 certified comprehensive stroke centers in the United States, saying “time is precious” when it comes to treating brain aneurysms. “Our team is skilled and experienced in treating stroke symptoms, fast,” the website said.
Comprehensive stroke centers are supposed to offer the highest level of stroke care, with the ability to handle complex cases, under standards set by the American Stroke Association, the American Heart Association and the Joint Commission, a nonprofit organization that accredits health agencies across the United States.
California regulations require comprehensive stroke centers to have adequate staff, equipment and training to treat stroke patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to the lawsuit.
For that reason, Orange County emergency services guidelines direct paramedics to transport certain stroke patients to the nearest stroke receiving center.
“I didn’t have a choice,” Siddiqui said. “You trust the physical care providers. You trust the system.”
But hours after Jhumra arrived in the emergency room, Siddiqui said she had not spoken to a surgeon.
“I kept asking, ‘Where’s the doctor?’ and they said, ‘Calm down, we’re trying to figure out when the surgeon can get over here,’ ” she said. “We’re in an ER, we have a brain bleed, why isn’t a doctor rushing him into surgery?”
According to the lawsuit, the hospital did not have a neurosurgeon on call capable of removing the blood accumulating in Jhumra’s brain, “which was slowly killing plaintiff Khusro Jhumra’s brain cells.”
Siddiqui said she phoned a doctor friend, who found an available neurosurgeon capable of operating on Jhumra. The surgeon came to Orange County Global to do the operation, but a lot of damage, a lot of bleeding had already occurred, Siddiqui said.
“So now he is a very different man,” she said. “What our family went through, is continuing to go through, is just not describable.”
Jhumra, once an IT consultant for a company and private pilot, can no longer speak and his right arm is paralyzed, Siddiqui said. His vision is gone from his right eye, she said. And he now needs a caregiver.
“He can’t do any activities of daily life,” Siddiqui said. “I’m still in shock and definitely livid that this alleged place of care inflicted so much harm on him and our family.”