NORTHAMPTON – A Hampshire Superior Court jury has found that there was no medical malpractice in the case of a former longtime Chesterfield town official who alleged that doctors failed to inform him that a hip surgery in 2013 could worsen his existing condition of dementia.
In 2015, David and Gail Kielson filed suit against Cooley Dickinson Hospital, Pioneer Valley Anesthesia LLC and three doctors.
The suit claims that David Kielson went from “stage 1 dementia to severe dementia after the hip surgery and he suffers all elements of damage as a result,” according to court documents. The suit against Pioneer Valley Anesthesia LLC, Dr. Albert Lim, and Dr. Linda Preston, sought more than $5 million in damages.
The trial took about two weeks, including two days of jury selection. On Friday, a jury found that Lim did not fail to disclose a “material risk” to Kielson concerning his anesthesia course of treatment.
An attorney for the Kielsons, Kenneth J. Gogel of Springfield, said he could not comment on the outcome of any of the other cases involving the other doctors or the hospital named in complaints.
“This was a complicated case in that Mr. Kielson already had an underlying dementia disease that was not in dispute,” Gogel said.
The case against Preston was reported settled on Dec.1, according to court documents. No information was available on the settlement. The cases against Pioneer Valley Anesthesia Cooley Dickinson Hospital and a third doctor, Brian D. Johnson, were dismissed, according to court documents.
Kielson served on the Chesterfield Select Board for 24 years, was town accountant for 25 years, and served for many years on regional and Hilltown boards and commissions. He also formerly served as the town accountant for Southampton.
Emily Cutts can be reached at ecutts@gazettenet.com.