IN THE IOWA DISTRICT COURT FOR WOODBURY COUNTY

MARY KAY DRECKMAN, as Administrator

of the Estate of Michael A. Dreckman,
deceased, CHERI BRUNSTING, Civil Case No. ______________
individually, ANTHONY DRECKMAN,
individually, and CHRISTINA NASH,
individually;
PETITION AT LAW AND JURY
DEMAND
Plaintiffs,
vs.
MERCY HEALTH SERVICES - IOWA
CORP., d/b/a MERCY MEDICAL CENTER
- SIOUX CITY.
Defendant.

COME NOW, Plaintiffs Estate of Michael A. Dreckman, deceased, By Its Administrator,

Mary Kay Dreckman, and Cheri Brunsting, Anthony Dreckman, and Christina Nash, Individually,

for their claims for relief against Defendant Mercy Health Services - Iowa Corp., d/b/a Mercy

Medical Center - Sioux City, and state as follows:

PARTIES, JURISDICTION, AND VENUE

1. The Estate of Michael Anthony Dreckman (deceased) is currently pending in the Iowa

District Court for Plymouth County, with Mary Kay Dreckman serving as the duly

appointed, qualified, and acting Administrator.

2. At the time of his death, Michael A. Dreckman was a resident of Le Mars, Plymouth

County, Iowa.

3. At all times material hereto, Plaintiff Mary Kay Dreckman was a resident of Le Mars,

Plymouth County, Iowa, and was the lawfully wedded spouse of decedent Michael A.

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 Dreckman. Mary Kay Dreckman is the duly appointed administrator of the Estate of

Michael A. Dreckman.

4. At all times material hereto, Plaintiff Cheri Brunsting was a resident of Hull, Sioux County,

Iowa, and is the natural daughter of Michael A. Dreckman.

5. At all times material hereto, Plaintiff Anthony Dreckman was a resident of Nescopeck,

Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, and is the natural son of Michael A. Dreckman.

6. At all times material hereto, Plaintiff Christina Nash was a resident of Iowa City, Johnson

County, Iowa, and is the natural daughter of Michael A. Dreckman.

7. At all times material hereto, Defendant Mercy Health Services – Iowa Corp., d/b/a Mercy

Medical Center – Sioux City (hereinafter “Mercy Medical Center”) was a corporation

organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware with its principal place of

business at 801 5th Street Sioux City, IA 51101. Its registered agent is CT Corporation

System, 400 E. Court Ave., Des Moines, IA 50309.

8. At all times material hereto, Mercy Medical Center employed doctors, nurses, technicians,

and other health care professionals to provide professional medical care and services to

patients.

9. At all times material hereto, Mercy Medical Center provided care and treatment to

Plaintiffs’ decedent Michael A. Dreckman.

10. Under the doctrine of respondeat superior/vicarious liability, Defendant Mercy Health

Services - Iowa Corp., d/b/a Mercy Medical Center - Sioux City, is legally liable for any

damages caused to Plaintiffs by the conduct of the doctors, nurses, technicians, or other

health care professionals who provided care to Plaintiffs’ decedent Michael A. Dreckman,

or, in the alternative, under the principles of ostensible agency, Defendant Mercy Health

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 Services - Iowa Corp., d/b/a Mercy Medical Center - Sioux City, is legally liable for any

damages caused to Plaintiffs by the conduct of the doctors, nurses, technicians, or other

health care professionals who provided care to Plaintiffs’ decedent Michael A. Dreckman.

11. Plaintiffs’ damages in the above-captioned matter exceed the amount necessary to maintain

this action in the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County and exceed the jurisdictional

requirements set forth in the Iowa Rules of Civil Procedure.

FACTS COMMON TO ALL COUNTS

12. On September 10, 2021, Michael A. Dreckman was admitted to Mercy Medical Center in

Sioux City, Iowa for acute coronary syndrome, and was found to have three-vessel

coronary artery disease.

13. On September 15, 2021, Mr. Dreckman underwent a successful quadruple coronary artery

bypass surgery at Mercy Medical Center.

14. Following this surgery, Mr. Dreckman was admitted to the intensive care unit at Mercy

Medical Center.

15. On September 17, 2021, Mr. Dreckman’s post-operative day two, Mr. Dreckman was

sitting up and walking.

16. On September 18, 2021, Mr. Dreckman’s post-operative day three, Mr. Dreckman

developed a new atrial fibrillation with rapid heart rates at approximately 180 beats per

minute.

17. On September 18, 2021, employees or agents of Mercy Medical Center gave Mr.

Dreckman three intravenous boluses of amiodarone, at 3:34 a.m., 4:53 a.m., and 6:54 a.m.,

and he was also started on an intravenous drip of amiodarone.

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18. On September 18, 2021, employees or agents of Mercy Medical Center gave Mr.

Dreckman a toxic dose of amiodarone.

19. On September 18, 2021, Mr. Dreckman was also given 25 mg of metoprolol orally at 6:53

a.m. Mr. Dreckman was last seen at 8:00 a.m. sitting upright in his recliner chair.

20. Based on telemetry tracings, at 8:10 a.m. on September 18, 2021, Mr. Dreckman’s heart

rate slowed down.

21. Based on telemetry tracings, at 8:18 a.m. on September 18, 2021, Mr. Dreckman’s heart

rate went into heart block with long life-threatening pauses in his heartbeat (flat-lines),

followed by intermittent slow beats.

22. Despite Mr. Dreckman supposedly being monitored by telemetry, Mercy Medical Center

staff did not respond to his bradycardia.

23. As Mr. Dreckman’s telemetry readings of 9/18/2021 show, Mercy Medical Center staff

then allowed Mr. Dreckman’s heartbeat to flatline for a full five minutes without any

intervention which would have saved him:

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24. At approximately 8:25 a.m. on September 18, 2021, Mr. Dreckman’s wife Mary Kay and

daughter Christina walked into Mr. Dreckman’s hospital room and saw that he was

unresponsive and grey, with his monitor flashing and beeping and no Mercy Medical

Center staff attending to him.

25. Ms. Nash then ran into the hall and shouted, “We need help in here. We need help.” Two

nurses then came into Mr. Dreckman’s room.

26. At approximately 8:25 a.m. on September 18, 2021, a Code Blue was activated, with chest

compressions (as confirmed by telemetry tracings) starting at 8:25 a.m.

27. At 8:27 a.m. on September 18, 2021, Code Sheet documentation was started for Mr.

Dreckman.

28. Mr. Dreckman was given multiple rounds of epinephrine, bicarbonate, and calcium, and

one shock was attempted, but he remained in a state of cardiac arrest.

29. At 8:54 a.m. on September 18, 2021, Mr. Dreckman’s chest was opened, and there was

cardiac standstill with no pericardial tamponade.

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30. At 9:06 A.M. on September 18, 2021, Mr. Dreckman was pronounced dead.

31. Mr. Dreckman’s death certificate lists cardiac arrest as the immediate cause of death.

32. As a result of Mr. Dreckman’s death, Mary Kay Dreckman has sustained the loss of the

company, cooperation, affection, and aid of her husband, and Cheri Brunsting, Christina

Nash, and Anthony Dreckman have sustained the loss of the companionship, comfort,

guidance, affection, and aid of their father.

33. Mercy Medical Center has refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing in its care of Mr.

Dreckman, and has refused to offer a single dollar to resolve this case.

34. On March 24, 2018, Richard Beauchene, another cardiac patient at Mercy Medical Center

in Sioux City, died after Mercy Medical Center staff failed to appropriately monitor him

and his son walked into his room to find his father unresponsive with his body hanging off

the bed and purple.

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 COUNT I: MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE
Against Defendant Mercy Medical Center

35. Plaintiffs incorporate by reference Paragraphs 1 – 34, set forth above.

36. At all times material hereto, nurses employed by Defendant Mercy Medical Center held

themselves out to the public as health care professionals, practicing at Mercy Health

Services - Iowa Corp., d/b/a Mercy Medical Center - Sioux City.

37. Plaintiffs’ decedent Michael A. Dreckman relied on nurses employed by Defendant Mercy

Medical Center as having specialized knowledge, training, and skill in nursing and as being

capable of providing a high degree of care, skill, and knowledge in treating Plaintiffs’

decedent Michael A. Dreckman.

38. Defendant Mercy Medical Center, by its employees, agents, and/or apparent agents, in

rendering professional medical and other services to Michael A. Dreckman on or about

September 18, 2021, failed to exercise the ordinary care and medical skill in keeping with

their profession, and in the areas of their profession in which they specialized, and in the

manner in which they diagnosed, cared, treated, and rendered medical care and services to

Plaintiffs’ decedent Michael A. Dreckman.

39. Nurses who were employees, agents, and/or apparent agents of Defendant Mercy Medical

Center were negligent in one or more of the following particulars:

a. Giving Mr. Dreckman a toxic dose of amiodarone;

b. Failing to appropriately monitor Mr. Dreckman’s vital signs;

c. Administering Mr. Dreckman’s heart rate control medication;

d. Failing to continuously monitor Mr. Dreckman’s heart rhythm via telemetry;

e. Ensuring that Mr. Dreckman was safely provided for during his convalescence; and

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 f. In other particulars which may become known in the course of discovery.

40. The negligence of nurses who were employees, agents, and/or apparent agents of

Defendant Mercy Medical Center was a cause of the injuries, lost chance of survival,

damages, and death of Plaintiffs’ decedent Michael A. Dreckman and of harm suffered by

the Plaintiffs.

41. Michael A. Dreckman’s death and resulting damages are within the scope of liability of

nurses who were employees, agents, and/or apparent agents of Defendant Mercy Medical

Center and said injuries and damages arose from the same general types of danger that said

Defendant should have taken reasonable steps to avoid.

42. Prior to his death on September 18, 2021, as a result of Defendant Mercy Medical Center’s

negligence, Michael A. Dreckman endured severe conscious mental and physical pain and

suffering, for which his Estate seeks damages.

43. As a result of Defendant Mercy Medical Center’s negligence and Michael A. Dreckman’s

resulting premature and untimely death, his spouse, Mary Kay Dreckman, has suffered the

loss of the care, society, services, companionship, contributions, consortium, and support

of her husband. This loss will continue into the future.

44. As a result of Defendant Mercy Medical Center’s negligence and Michael A. Dreckman’s

resulting premature and untimely death, his daughter, Cheri Brunsting, has suffered the

loss of the care, society, services, companionship, contributions, consortium, and support

of her father. This loss will continue into the future.

45. As a result of Defendant Mercy Medical Center’s negligence and Michael A. Dreckman’s

resulting premature and untimely death, his son, Anthony Dreckman, has suffered the loss

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 of the care, society, services, companionship, contributions, consortium, and support of his

father. This loss will continue into the future.

46. As a result of Defendant Mercy Medical Center’s negligence and Michael A. Dreckman’s

resulting premature and untimely death, his daughter, Christina Nash, has suffered the loss

of the care, society, services, companionship, contributions, consortium, and support of her

father. This loss will continue into the future.

COUNT II: VICARIOUS LIABILITY

Against Defendant Mercy Health Services - Iowa Corp., d/b/a
Mercy Medical Center - Sioux City
47. Plaintiffs incorporate by reference Paragraphs 1 – 46, set forth above.

48. Defendant Mercy Health Services - Iowa Corp., d/b/a Mercy Medical Center - Sioux City

is directly and vicariously liable for the negligence of its employees, physicians, physician

assistants, nurses, aids, technicians, agents, and others who may have been involved in the

care of Plaintiffs’ decedent Michael A. Dreckman.

49. Defendant Mercy Health Services - Iowa Corp., d/b/a Mercy Medical Center - Sioux City,

through its employees, physicians, physician assistants, nurses, aids, technicians, agents,

and other healthcare providers who provided care to Plaintiffs’ decedent Michael A.

Dreckman was negligent in one or more of the following particulars:

a. Giving Mr. Dreckman a toxic dose of amiodarone;

b. Failing to appropriately monitor Mr. Dreckman’s vital signs;

c. Administering Mr. Dreckman’s heart rate control medication;

d. Failing to continuously monitor Mr. Dreckman’s heart rhythm via telemetry;

e. Ensuring that Mr. Dreckman was safely provided for during his convalescence; and

f. In other particulars which may become known in the course of discovery.

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50. Defendant Mercy Health Services - Iowa Corp., d/b/a Mercy Medical Center - Sioux City,

by its employees, physicians, physician assistants, nurses, aids, technicians, agents, and

other healthcare providers, rendered professional medical and other services to Plaintiffs’

decedent Michael A. Dreckman and failed to exercise the ordinary care and skill in keeping

with their profession, and in the areas of their profession in which they specialized, and in

the manner in which they diagnosed, cared, treated, and rendered care and services to

Plaintiffs’ decedent Michael A. Dreckman.

51. The negligence for which Defendant Mercy Health Services - Iowa Corp., d/b/a Mercy

Medical Center - Sioux City’s is vicariously liable was a cause of the injuries, lost chance

of survival, damages, and death of Plaintiffs’ decedent Michael A. Dreckman. Michael A.

Dreckman’s death would not have happened but for the negligence for which Defendant

Mercy Health Services - Iowa Corp., d/b/a Mercy Medical Center - Sioux City is

vicariously liable.

52. Michael A. Dreckman’s death and resulting damages are within the scope of Defendant’s

liability and said injuries and damages arose from the same general types of danger that

said Defendant should have taken reasonable steps to avoid.

53. Prior to his death on September 18, 2021, Michael A. Dreckman endured severe conscious

mental and physical pain and suffering, for which his Estate seeks damages.

54. As a result of the negligence for which Defendant Mercy Health Services - Iowa Corp.,

d/b/a Mercy Medical Center - Sioux City is vicariously liable and Michael A. Dreckman’s

resulting premature and untimely death, his spouse, Mary Kay Dreckman, has suffered the

loss of the care, society, services, companionship, contributions, consortium, and support

of her husband. This loss will continue into the future.

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55. As a result of the negligence for which Defendant Mercy Health Services - Iowa Corp.,

d/b/a Mercy Medical Center - Sioux City is vicariously liable and Michael A. Dreckman’s

resulting premature and untimely death, his daughter, Cheri Brunsting, has suffered the

loss of the care, society, services, companionship, contributions, consortium, and support

of her father. This loss will continue into the future.

56. As a result of the negligence for which Defendant Mercy Health Services - Iowa Corp.,

d/b/a Mercy Medical Center - Sioux City is vicariously liable and Michael A. Dreckman’s

resulting premature and untimely death, his son, Anthony Dreckman, has suffered the loss

of the care, society, services, companionship, contributions, consortium, and support of her

father. This loss will continue into the future.

57. As a result of the negligence for which Defendant Mercy Health Services - Iowa Corp.,

d/b/a Mercy Medical Center - Sioux City is vicariously liable and Michael A. Dreckman’s

resulting premature and untimely death, his daughter, Christina Nash, has suffered the loss

of the care, society, services, companionship, contributions, consortium, and support of her

father. This loss will continue into the future.

WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs pray for judgment against Defendant Mercy Health Services -

Iowa Corp., d/b/a Mercy Medical Center - Sioux City, in an amount that will fully and fairly

compensate them for their damages, with interest thereon as provided by law, the costs of this

action, and any and all such other relief as the Court deems just and proper.

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 Respectfully submitted,
By: /s/ Nicholas C. Rowley

TRIAL LAWYERS FOR JUSTICE, P.C.

Nicholas C. Rowley AT0009516
Dominic F. Pechota AT0006175
Jon Specht AT0012576
421 W. Water St., Third Floor
Decorah, IA 52101
Phone: (563) 382-5071
Fax: (888) 801-3616
Email: nick@tl4j.com; dominic@tl4j.com;
jon@tl4j.com

ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFFS

JURY DEMAND

COME NOW, Plaintiffs, and hereby demand trial by jury as to all counts.

Respectfully submitted,
By: /s/ Nicholas C. Rowley

TRIAL LAWYERS FOR JUSTICE, P.C.

Nicholas C. Rowley AT0009516
Dominic F. Pechota AT0006175
Jon Specht AT0012576
421 W. Water St., Third Floor
Decorah, IA 52101
Phone: (563) 382-5071
Fax: (888) 801-3616
Email: nick@tl4j.com; dominic@tl4j.com;
jon@tl4j.com

ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFFS

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