The woman who first accused UCI Medical Center of negligence in its liver transplant program will be allowed to continue her lawsuit against the hospital, according to a state appeals court decision filed this week.
Elodie Irvine, 52, alleged in a lawsuit filed four years ago that UCI delayed her liver and kidney transplants, causing her health to deteriorate. She later received transplants at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
She settled her original lawsuit against UCI two years ago for $50,000 – before federal investigators sanctioned UCI’s liver program, a move that prompted the school to close that program. It was eventually revealed that UCI had misled health regulators and the public, incorrectly saying it had a full-time transplant surgeon.
Irvine says her attorney coerced her into settling the 2003 lawsuit, and the appeals court ruled this week that Irvine’s dispute over the settlement was compelling enough to return the case to the courts.
“I’ve gone through so much,” Irvine said Tuesday. “Justice has prevailed.”
A UCI spokesman said the university will pursue more legal action in response to the court’s decision.
“The court specifically did not address the underlying merits, including whether Ms. Irvine has actually entered into a binding settlement,” Tom Vasich said.