Lawyer says driver's doctors negligent in fatal Brockton crash

Alleges woman should have been warned on drugs

Jane Berghold crashed her car through a hospital entrance, killing two people.

The widow of a doctor killed when a woman crashed her car through a Brockton hospital entrance is suing the driver's physicians in a case that analysts say could broaden the extent of liability in the medical profession.

Brad Greenberg, a Brockton lawyer representing the family of Dr. Mark Vasa, said he has accused five doctors not affiliated with the hospital of negligence in the suit.

Greenberg said yesterday that the doctors are liable for prescribing the 77-year-old Rockland woman heavy pain-killers or having knowledge of the prescriptions without telling her it could be unsafe to drive.

The woman, Jane Berghold, crashed her car through the entrance of Signature Healthcare's Brockton Hospital in October, killing Vasa and 59-year-old Susan Plante, an oncology secretary, and injuring three others.

"Someone should have caught this and said operating heavy machinery is a problem here and could endanger the public," Greenberg said.

He would not name the doctors yesterday, saying the court case has not been made public. He said the lawsuit was filed this week in Plymouth Superior Court as an amendment to a separate suit he filed against Berghold.

The lawsuit against Berghold has been dropped. Greenberg said his client has reached a settlement with Berghold, and the lawsuit was dropped as part of an agreement that she give a deposition in the case against the doctors.

Berghold pleaded guilty in May to two criminal counts of homicide by negligent operation of a motor vehicle and one count of negligent operation of a motor vehicle. She was sentenced to 18 months of probation, and her license to drive was revoked.

At the time of the crash, Berghold told police she was undergoing chemotherapy but that her treatment did not affect her driving.

Greenberg, however, said that Berghold had complained to doctors at least 15 times over a four-year period of being light-headed and dizzy from the medication. On at least one of those occasions, she told a doctor she was light-headed while driving but was never told she shouldn't drive, Greenberg said.

He said one of the doctors named in the suit was her primary care physician and the other doctors were part of a medical group that provided treatment.

"Mrs. Berghold should have been told not to drive," Greenberg said. "And if she was advised, according to her, she would not have driven. And she wouldn't have driven to Brockton Hospital, through the front doors, hitting my client and leaving a widow behind."

The case is the second in the state to test the extent of liability for doctors prescribing medication. In December, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that a Stoughton family had the right to sue a Brockton doctor, Roland Florio, based on a similar complaint. In that case, the mother of a 10-year-old boy who was killed when he was struck by a car alleges Florio failed to warn the driver, David Sacca of Stoughton, of the side effects of medications he was taking and their potential to impair driving. The SJC sent the case back to a lower court, where it is scheduled for trial in November.

Greenberg said yesterday his lawsuit is based on the case, which is being watched closely by the medical profession.

Dr. Bruce Auerbach, vice president of emergency services at Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro and president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, said a finding against the doctors could have implications for those in the medical field who would be burdened with having to consider the kinds of medications they prescribe to particular patients, if any, and what types of clients they should accept.

"We're very concerned about the implications of it," he said. "We're very concerned because this broadens liability beyond where liability traditionally lies, within the patient-doctor relationship."

He said doctors have the responsibility to discuss medications and the possible side effects with their patients. Also, pharmacies provide information to patients about the side effects of medications. But any finding that would extend the liability beyond the doctor-patient relationship could affect how doctors treat their clients.

"It's reasonable to hold the doctor liable for those things that confine within the patient, doctor relationship, but anything beyond that is inappropriate and excessive," he said.

Milton Valencia can be reached at mvalencia@globe.com.