On June 12, 2006, 35-year-old Tracy Ariss underwent an echo-cardiogram stress test at LaGrange Memorial Hospital after a workup for carpal tunnel pain in her arms was found to be inconclusive. Less than 3 minutes into the stress test, Tracy suffered a myocardial infarction — a heart attack. She was immediately taken off the treadmill and treated with nitroglycerin, aspirin and other medicine.
The defendant Rod Serry, M.D., an interventional cardiologist, was called from the cath lab. Even though Tracy did not believe that she was pregnant, Dr. Serry ordered a pregnancy test. Tracy was about 2 ½ weeks pregnant. Her pregnancy complicated her medical treatment in that Dr. Serry did not know any other cardiologists who had performed a cardiac intervention on a pregnant woman after suffering a heart attack.
Dr. Serry called an obstetrician seeking help as to the proper course of treatment. The obstetrician told Dr. Serry that he should make medical choices for the mother as the primary concern. At the trial, Dr. Serry testified that the OB also stressed to him not to prescribe anticoagulants or other medicine long-term during pregnancy. However, this was not noted in the medical chart.