Baptist et al. sued for $20M

A Cookeville man is suing the Baptist Women’s Health Center, doing business as the Center for Spinal Surgery, two doctors, one nurse and other people for $20 million after his wife died from causes related to a back procedure she underwent in January.

Michael Burnette, surviving spouse of Carmen Ingrid Burnette, filed his Sept. 22 lawsuit [2] in Davidson County Circuit Court alleging negligence under Tennessee’s wrongful-death statute. Carmen Burnette had died while undergoing a procedure to repair a disc in her back, an injury she sustained while working as a paramedic.

The facts alleged in this case, as told in the complaint, reveal a mind-numbing tragedy wherein a doctor unintentionally severed a critical artery in Carmen’s abdomen resulting in her eventual death from internal bleeding. Early efforts to treat the resulting excessive hypotension and anemia only exacerbated the problem.

Kristi Gooden, public relations director for Saint Thomas Health Services, Baptist Hospital’s parent entity, was contacted Monday but could not return with any defendant’s comment prior to publication.

Burnette is represented by Cookeville-based attorney Jon E. Jones of the Law Office of Jon E. Jones and fellow attorney Patrick Shea Callahan of the same firm. Jones could not be reached for comment on Monday.

Burnette's suit comes just days after another Kentucky resident filed a $15 million complaint [3] against doctors at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, claiming that their miscommunications had led to the amputation of one of his feet.