A hearing is scheduled later this month in a lawsuit that a Liberty woman has filed, seeking millions in damages for alleged medical malpractice and debilitating adverse effects that she insists were caused by an injection she received at a local community health center.
The plaintiff went to the Burlington Community Health Center at 1214 Vaughn Road in August 2021 for a TDAP vaccine (a combined shot for tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis). She claims to have learned years later that she was actually given an “unidentified injection” that has since caused a cascade of health problems.
Patricia D. Davis, of 6548 Alamance County Line Road, Liberty, has filed a lawsuit seeking millions in damages against the Burlington Community Health Center and two individuals who were employed there when she “consented to receiving a TDAP vaccination” in 2021.
Two employees are also listed as defendants to the suit: Amanda Childs, who Davis identified as an office manager but is no longer employed at the health center; and Ana Pacheco, who allegedly administered the “unidentified injection,” according to multiple documents included in the court file.
Davis, who is representing herself for her suit, is requesting two separate awards, of $29 million each, in monetary damages against the Burlington Community Health Center for alleged physical damages and emotional trauma. The Burlington Community Health Center is a division of Piedmont Health Center, Inc. and is also part of the UNC Health Care network, according to its website.
The plaintiff is also seeking $3 million in damages against Pacheco, who allegedly administered the unidentified injection in 2021 but “is not a nurse.” Davis claims that Pacheco was negligent in administering an unknown injection and that she violated her right to informed consent in her treatment as a patient.
Davis is also seeking an award for $1 million in damages against Childs for allegedly participating in the “emotional trauma the plaintiff endured,” according to the suit. Davis also claims that she was blocked from accessing her medical records immediately after learning she had received an unidentified injection.
In her suit, Davis claims that, for three years, she believed she’d been given the TDAP vaccine in 2021, even after she began experiencing a series of “life altering” adverse effects.
Davis claims her symptoms escalated from being “very sick the night of the injection” to shortness of breath, chest pains, fatigue, sweating, and faintness the next day. Four days later, Davis went to an emergency room (while traveling out-of-town) for what she believed was a heart attack.
The “episodes” continued, and in August 2024, Davis was hospitalized for heart issues that she insists began the day after she received the unidentified injection.
Other adverse effects that Davis attributes to the unidentified injection include: swollen lymph nodes on the side of her body where the injection was administered; a thyroid growth; brain fog; heat intolerance; and profuse sweating.
Health problems identified prior to discovery that Davis hadn’t received TDAP vaccine
“It is important to note all these conditions were identified before the plaintiff knew she was given an unidentified injection instead of the TDAP,” leading to irreversible physical and emotional damage, Davis alleges. At some point, the plaintiff apparently learned she hadn’t received the TDAP vaccine after she was attacked by a dog in April 2022 and was “injured with a rusty tool” in September 2023, according to her suit.
“Plaintiff has felt as if she is dying since the first episode,” Davis claims in her suit. “She does not feel she will live to see her grandchildren [grow up]. Not being able to do simple things most of the time has been devastating…The emotional trauma doesn’t just involve dying. Plaintiff will never feel safe in a doctor’s office again.”
Davis also points to omissions from her medical records, which should’ve documented what she’d requested (TDAP vaccine), what she received, and the date on which it was administered at the Burlington Community Health Center.
Davis notes in her suit that, when she went to the health center for the TDAP vaccine in August 2024, she had been asked whether she wanted a Covid-19 vaccine. The complaint states, “The record stated for that day, ‘We discussed vaccination against Covid-19. They have been considering vaccination. We explored concerns. Based on conversation [patient] adamantly declines – counseled.’
“These notes do not seem coherent,” Davis asserts in her suit. “Plaintiff is referred to as ‘they.’ Plaintiff has never considered the Covid vaccination for even a moment. Why would anyone consider the vaccination and be adamant against it at the same time? It appears to be poor record keeping or [the] records were altered. In fact, Ana Pacheco failed to note any injection was given.”
Defendants seeking dismissal on multiple grounds
The law firm representing the defendants – Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein of Raleigh – recently filed a motion to dismiss Davis’ suit on multiple grounds, including failure to state a claim on which relief may be granted, a standard argument in many civil suits.
The defendants are asking a visiting superior court judge to dismiss Davis’ suit because, they claim, the complaint “was not timely filed.”
However, Davis requested, and was granted, a motion to extend the statute of limitations by then-Alamance County senior resident superior court judge Tom Lambeth, Jr. in late August 2024. She was also granted permission last August to proceed as an indigent plaintiff and subsequently filed her suit prior to the extended deadline of December 23, 2024, according to the court file.
The defendants also contend that Davis’ suit should be dismissed because the issues fall under federal tort law; they also claim she failed to follow “rules of pleading,” in keeping with the state’s Rules of Civil Procedure.
The defendants’ motion is scheduled to be heard on April 28 in Alamance County superior court by Matthew B. Smith, a visiting superior court judge from Union County.
