The estate of a Kitsap County woman has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the United States, alleging a federally funded health clinic failed to properly monitor and treat her chronic hepatitis B before she died of liver failure in 2022.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in Tacoma federal court, alleges Peninsula Community Health Services failed over several years to ensure Ruthann Burianek received specialist care, failed to adequately monitor her condition, and failed to respond appropriately when laboratory results showed signs of acute liver failure.
Burianek died Oct. 25, 2022, at age 51 after being transferred to UW Medical Center in Seattle. Her death certificate lists septic shock due to fungemia and fulminant liver failure in the setting of presumed hepatitis B reactivation, according to the complaint.
Because Peninsula Community Health Services is a federally deemed health center, the lawsuit was filed against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act rather than directly against the clinic.
According to the complaint, Peninsula Community Health Services confirmed Burianek had chronic hepatitis B in December 2018 and referred her to a gastroenterologist.
The lawsuit alleges the clinic failed to ensure the referral was completed and failed to confirm she received ongoing specialist care, antiviral treatment, or regular monitoring of her liver function and viral load.
The complaint further alleges Burianek’s hepatitis B diagnosis was not documented in a manner that kept it visible and actionable throughout her medical record.
Attorneys for the estate argue those failures left Burianek with active, untreated hepatitis B for nearly four years.
Alleged Missed Warning Signs
The lawsuit alleges Burianek sought care at Peninsula on Oct. 6, 2022, complaining of nausea, dizziness, and urinary symptoms. Laboratory testing was ordered.
The following day, Peninsula allegedly received laboratory results that were flagged as “Alert” and were consistent with acute liver failure, according to the complaint.
Rather than directing Burianek to seek emergency treatment, the clinic allegedly sent her a message through its patient portal stating that her liver enzymes were significantly elevated and expressing concern that her hepatitis was worsening, according to the lawsuit.
The complaint alleges Peninsula did not direct her to an emergency department, arrange urgent hospitalization, or obtain an immediate specialty consultation.
Three days later, Burianek arrived at St. Michael Medical Center in what the lawsuit describes as a medical crisis.
Hospital providers documented jaundice, severe liver dysfunction, kidney failure, and untreated hepatitis B, according to the complaint.
She was later transferred to UW Medical Center for liver transplant evaluation. By that point, the lawsuit alleges, her condition had progressed to fulminant liver failure, multiple organ dysfunction, and shock.
The complaint states she was evaluated for a liver transplant but was too ill to receive one.
“Ms. Burianek died from a disease that competent medical care would have identified, monitored, treated, and responded to long before it became fatal,” the complaint states.
Seeking Damages
The lawsuit alleges Peninsula Community Health Services violated the accepted standard of care in three primary ways:
- failing to properly document Burianek’s hepatitis B diagnosis
- failing to ensure specialist follow-up after a 2018 referral
- failing to recognize and respond appropriately to signs of acute liver failure in October 2022
The estate is seeking damages for wrongful death, medical negligence, pain and suffering before death, medical expenses, funeral expenses, and losses suffered by surviving family members.
Court records show the estate previously filed an administrative claim with the US Department of Health and Human Services seeking $14 million in damages before filing suit.
