Kansas

Stormont Vail doctor who removed wrong organ can be sued after tie in Kansas Supreme Court

Published

2 years ago

March 13, 2024

Stormont Vail doctor who removed wrong organ can be sued after tie in Kansas Supreme Court

A rare tie in the Kansas Supreme Court means a Stormont Vail Health patient will be allowed to continue her lawsuit against the Topeka hospital and a doctor who removed the wrong organ.

When Jeannine Williams-Davidson had a surgery to remove her adrenal gland at Stormont Vail, physician Nason Lui removed part of her pancreas instead.

The patient sued, but courts have been divided on whether you need to be a medical expert to decide that a doctor violated the standard of care by cutting out a chunk of a healthy organ while leaving untouched the one with a noncancerous tumor.

Medical expert not needed when common sense is enough

Kansas law typically requires plaintiffs to offer expert testimony in medical malpractice cases because jurors generally are not experts in medicine. But there is a common sense and knowledge exception that applies when a patient’s care was “so obviously lacking” and “the results are so bad” that it would be apparent to an average person.

Douglas County District Court previously ruled against the patient because she didn’t have a medical expert. That dismissed the claims without having a jury trial.

A divided three-judge panel of the Kansas Court of Appeals disagreed and reversed the decision in July.

“When the surgeon misidentifies and removes all or part of a healthy organ, leaving the organ the surgeon intended to operate on untouched, the common-knowledge exception alleviates the need for expert testimony to establish the standard of care or a breach of that standard,” wrote judges Amy Fellows Cline and Jacy J. Hurst.

Judge David E. Bruns dissented, arguing it shouldn’t apply because it was inadvertent.

“The average lay person would not have the knowledge necessary to determine whether this mistake rose to the level of a breach of the appropriate standard of care by a surgeon,” Bruns wrote. “In other words, I do not believe it is patently obvious that the bad result occurred due to a breach of reasonable care.”

The doctor and hospital then appealed to the Supreme Court.

More: Kansas court rules Stormont Vail doctor who removed the wrong organ can still be sued

Kansas Supreme Court tied

Ties are not common at the Kansas Supreme Court, which has seven justices. But it has happened in the past, at least as recently as two years ago, when a justice recused himself from a case that he had been an attorney on before joining the bench.

When a tie happens at an appellate court, the lower court ruling stands.

In this ruling, Justice Eric Rosen recused himself and the other six were equally divided. Justices Dan Biles, K.J. Wall and Melissa Taylor Standridge would have affirmed the Kansas Court of Appeals reversal of the Douglas County District Court. Chief Justice Marla Luckert and justices Caleb Stegall and Evelyn Wilson would have reversed the appeals court and sided with the district court.

Friday’s ruling didn’t include any legal reasoning from the two camps.

Attorneys argue over common knowledge

Prior to Friday’s ruling, the high court held oral arguments on Jan. 31.

Lui and Stormont Vail were represented by Cynthia J. Sheppeard, of Topeka law firm Goodell, Stratton, Edmonds & Palmer.

Sheppeard said that Lui and a second doctor who assisted on the laparoscopic surgery him would “testify that what happened sometimes happens, even with the best of care.” She said he admits he made a mistake, but a mistake doesn’t necessarily mean it was negligence.

“They were so close together, and the adrenal and the pancreas looked so much alike, and there was blood in the field, he’d been removing the adhesions,” she said. “Between the two of them, they thought they were removing the adrenal.”

Williams-Davidson and her husband, Jeffrey Davidson, were represented by Jason Belveal, of Belveal Law Office in Holton.

“I do believe that if you say to a person, I went in for surgery and my doctor left behind the diseased organ, cut out a healthy organ — or a big part of a healthy organ — any person off the street is going to go, ‘Yikes, something went wrong on that,’” Belveal said.

Belveal said a jury should get to decide, after hearing the facts of the case, whether that’s medical malpractice. He described opposition to common knowledge applying in this case as “elitist protection.”

“Is it justice for all, or is it justice for those folks who can afford an expert to come in and say, ‘No, this this is wrong,’” he said, adding that “at some point, we should trust the jurors to be able to make certain decisions.”

Jason Alatidd is a Statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jalatidd@gannett.com. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd.

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Kansas

Boyfriend suspected of shooting at KCK home, killing woman: affidavit

Published

5 hours ago

November 19, 2025

Press Room

Boyfriend suspected of shooting at KCK home, killing woman: affidavit

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Multiple shots were fired at a house where a Halloween party was taking place in a suspected domestic violence incident that killed a 20-year-old woman in Kansas City, Kansas, earlier this month, according to court records released Wednesday.

An affidavit released by Wyandotte County District Court details what happened in the early-morning hours of Nov. 1 at the Kansas City, Kansas, home, where Ana Juarez was fatally shot. The affidavit was filed in the case of 22-year-old Kevin Calamaco-Morales, who is accused of killing Juarez. Charging documents say the two were in a relationship.

Officers with the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department were called to the home on North 11th Street near Barnett Avenue just before 4:30 a.m. Nov. 1. Officers found Juarez with a gunshot wound to her lower back. She was taken to a hospital, where she died from her injuries.

Investigators interviewed witnesses inside the house and collected video, phone records and Facebook messages sent to the victim that led them to arrest Calamaco-Morales, according to the affidavit.

FOX4 has reached out to an attorney listed for Calamaco-Morales for comment.

Witnesses told police that Juarez went out with friends to Westport and some house parties for Halloween. Back at the house in KCK, they said they noticed Juarez was ignoring her phone, which was “blowing up” with calls or texts. Moments later, they heard gunshots, the witnesses said, and they took cover. Some of the witnesses stated that they saw Juarez getting up and opening the front door.

By the time the witnesses came out from hiding, police officers arrived, and Juarez was lying on the ground.

The house had been hit by gunfire, with some of the bullets entering the home. The victim’s car was also hit by a bullet with the driver’s side window shattered.

Charging documents say that at least one witness told police they believed Calamaco-Morales was involved in the shooting due to his attitude toward Juarez leading up to their Halloween plans. The witness claimed Juarez told them that Calamaco-Morales was controlling and that he initially didn’t want her to go out for Halloween.

Investigators obtained phone records that showed that a number registered to Calamaco-Morales called her 18 times between 4:21 and 4:23 a.m., according to the affidavit. The affidavit also says investigators recovered Facebook messages that were sent to the victim at 4:21 a.m.

Kansas City, Kansas, police took Calamaco-Morales into custody later that day for questioning.

Police also noted that at the address where Calamaco-Morales was taken into custody, they noticed a Honda Accord that was similar to the suspect vehicle they saw on a video that was captured near the shooting scene that morning. The video showed a vehicle parking in front of the home at 4:19 a.m. and a person exiting the passenger side and firing shots.

Charging documents say the Honda had a Kansas tag that was flagged by a license plate reader as being at Seventh Street and Quindaro Boulevard at 4:31 a.m., about nine minutes after the shooting and two miles from the scene.

Calamaco-Morales was arrested and Wyandotte County prosecutors charged him with first-degree murder and criminal discharge of a firearm on Nov. 3.

He remains in the Wyandotte County jail with bond set at $500,000.

The next court hearing is set for Dec. 16.

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Kansas

How to Watch Kansas vs Duke: Live Stream NCAA Men’s College Basketball, TV Channel

Published

23 hours ago

November 18, 2025

Press Room

The No. 25 Kansas Jayhawks (3-1) travel to Madison Square Garden to face the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils (4-0) in a neutral-site Men’s College Basketball matchup.

How to Watch Kansas vs Duke

When: Tuesday, November 18, 2025
Time: 9:00 PM ET
TV Channel: ESPN
Live Stream: Fubo (try for free)

Perennial powerhouse Kansas has gotten off to a 3-1 start, although its wins haven’t been as impressive as voters would have liked, as they’ve almost dropped from the AP polls. Their last win was a 76-57 home victory over Princeton, in which the defense held Princeton to just 31% from the field. The Jayhawks are strong inside, with Flory Bidunga making 10-of-11 shots for 25 points, but the perimeter game was abhorrent, with Kansas making just 5-of-21 from the 3-point line.

Duke has started where they left off last season, looking like one of the favorites to win the NCAA Championship. After a slow start in a 75-60 win over Texas earlier in the season, the Blue Devils have fired on all cylinders, defeating Western Carolina, Army, and Indiana State in impressive fashion. The 100-62 win over Indiana State was notable for the all-world performance put on by Cameron Boozer, who scored 35 points to go with 12 rebounds, five assists, three steals, and three blocks, missing only three of his 16 shot attempts.

This is a great Men’s College Basketball matchup that you will not want to miss; make sure to tune in and catch all the action.

Live stream Kansas vs Duke on Fubo: Watch the event now!

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Kansas

Kansas law enforcement agencies sign agreements for immigration enforcement

Published

2 days ago

November 18, 2025

Press Room

Kansas law enforcement agencies sign agreements for immigration enforcement

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – Eighteen Kansas counties, including Sedgwick County, have signed agreements with ICE under the 287(g) program, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation announced Friday.

“We will find you, we will turn you over to ICE and you will be deported,” the KBI said about their agreement with ICE under the 287(g) program signed by 18 counties across the state.

In Sedgwick County, this takes the form of the warrant service model, meaning if the agency arrests a non-citizen, ICE has 48 hours to pick them up.

“If you are a registered offender and you are here illegally, you might as well leave now,” said KBI Director Tony Mattivi.

Sarah Balderas, an immigration lawyer in Wichita, said currently it’s up to counties whether they want to sign an agreement with ICE, but the KBI could change this in the future.

“Law enforcement agencies are forced to be trained as ICE agents and to carry out ICE enforcement. That’s the worst-case scenario,” Balderas said.

Current enforcement practices

While it may be concerning for some to see local law enforcement working with ICE, lawyers like Balderas want to remind people these laws have always been in place and are just being enforced to a higher degree than Kansas has seen in the past.

“We’ve had that 48-hour ICE window for a very long time. And essentially, Sedgwick County is not calling ICE and saying, ‘Hey, we got someone. It’s public record,,” Balderas said.

Balderas said her firm has a good relationship with law enforcement because she wants her clients to be able to trust the police.

“We never want to live in a society where people who are here unlawfully are afraid to call the police,” she said.

Balderas added that Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter has previously made it clear that he doesn’t want Wichita’s law enforcement to act as ICE agents.

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