Kansas Jury Awards $4 Million for Misdiagnosis of Rocky Mountain Fever

A Sedgwick County jury has awarded more than $4 million in damages to a Wichita man who became permanently disabled after doctors failed to diagnose Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

Kyle Jim was 11 when he was taken to Via Christi Regional Medical Center-St. Francis Campus in June 1996 for treatment of a fever and rash.

His lawyers said that because doctors failed to make the routine diagnosis, Jim lost both legs, four fingers on one hand and the index finger on the other. He is deaf, has lost the ability to speak and has brain injury.

The jury ruled the hospital was 85 percent at fault and that Dr. Lyndon Gamelson was 15 percent at fault.

Now 23, Jim lives with his mother in Wichita.