Family suing Hoag, doctors

The family of a Costa Mesa woman killed in an August 2006 car accident has filed wrongful death lawsuits against Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, several doctors associated with it and the driver accused of killing her.

The family of Candace Tift, a popular 31-year-old Eastbluff Elementary School teacher, allege that Hoag Hospital and doctors Paul Corona, Jeffrey Barke, Kenneth Cheng and William Park, who are associated with Hoag, negligently provided prescription medications to Janene Johns that ultimately led to Tift’s death.

Johns is on trial for vehicular manslaughter while under the influence in connection with the Aug. 23, 2006, accident.

Johns is accused of being under the influence of the anti-anxiety medication Xanax, the sleep aid Ambien and the cough-suppressant Mucinex when her 2006 Lexus veered onto the West Coast Highway sidewalk and struck Tift, who was on a bike.

Tift’s husband, Wade Tift, sued for an unspecified amount in November on behalf of him and his son, 3-year-old Owen. He claims in the lawsuit the doctors and their practice, Newport Medical Consultants Personal Physicians, along with Dr. Jerry Teixera, were aware of Johns’ mental instability and should not have permitted her to drive.

“The essence of the case, if it moves forward, would be that the care providers for Ms. Johns failed to diagnose, treat, medicate her properly” and that led to Tift’s death, said Richard Cohn, Tift’s attorney.

The lawsuit against Hoag Hospital and the medical practitioners was filed Nov. 21, 2007. Hoag Hospital attorneys have not yet been served with papers, officials said. The suit is in its earliest stages, due somewhat to Johns’ criminal trial underway.

“This is a unique circumstance to have a case that’s out there where we can’t obtain all the facts we want to obtain,” Cohn said.

“I think the evidence is going to show that all of the care that Dr. Barke and Dr. Cheng gave was appropriate and within the standard of care, and there was nothing they did that in any way caused the accident and unfortunate death of Ms. Tift,” said Jerry Martin, an attorney at Schmid & Voiles who is representing several of the defendants.

“The appropriate cautions were given to [Johns]” regarding driving, Martin said.

Tift’s lawsuit seeks damages for loss of income, medical and funeral costs and compensation for pain, suffering and various non-economic losses. The maximum award for pain, suffering and non-economic losses in a medical malpractice suit is $250,000, Cohn said.

“As far as the civil lawsuit, they’re not going to get a result that is anywhere near appropriate for their loss,” he said.

The family also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Johns in November 2006. Johns’ lawyer was unavailable for comment Friday. Johns’ criminal trial is expected to conclude early next week.

JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at joseph.serna@latimes.com.