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Report: Griffith Joyner family sues Doctors accused of improperly analyzing MRI tests
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Florence Griffith Joyner's family is suing a St. Louis hospital, charging doctors with failing to detect a brain abnormality two years before the Olympic track star died, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday. The lawsuit was filed in a Missouri court under pseudonyms, the Times said, citing sources close to the case. It accuses employees of Washington University's Barnes-Jewish Hospital of improperly interpreting the results of an MRI and other tests Griffith Joyner underwent in April 1996 when she was rushed to the hospital after suffering a seizure during a flight to St. Louis. The 38-year-old track star suffered another seizure while asleep at home in Mission Viejo in 1998. The Orange County coroner ruled that it caused her death by suffocation. The lawsuit accused the hospital of neglecting to compare the tests Joyner received there with those she had undergone earlier and of not reviewing her medical records. According to the action, the tests should have revealed a medical condition in which the brain's blood vessels tighten and cause seizures. One of the top women athletes in track history, Griffith Joyner won three gold medals at the 1988 Olympics. She still holds the world record for 100 meters. The plaintiffs are listed as Al Jones, Mary Ruth Jones and the estate of Florence Jones. In reality, the Times said, the plaintiffs are Griffith Joyner's husband, Al Joyner; her daughter, Mary Ruth Joyner; and the Florence Griffith Joyner estate. Hospital officials declined comment, saying they do not discuss pending litigation. Joyner's attorney, Paul Meyer, said his client "prefers to make no statement at this point." Barnes-Jewish is regarded as one of the top hospitals in the nation. A survey published last month in U.S. News and World Report rated it the seventh best in the country and its neurology department the ninth best.
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