The heart of many medical malpractice cases in New York is the failure to diagnose a condition, which ends up being fatal. One family recently filed a lawsuit against their hospital after a loved one died from a failure to diagnose sepsis.
The woman visited the hospital on back-to-back days complaining of a sore throat, but doctors discharged her. They later discovered that she had fatal bacteria in her system, but they did not call the woman back in time to treat it. The woman later died of septic shock after multiple organ failure and respiratory failure.
The hospital, three doctors and emergency consultant groups were named in the lawsuit and were allegedly negligent in their care of the woman. The hospital reportedly was negligent when staff negligently discharged the woman, failed to call her back to the emergency room and failed to treat the sepsis. One of the doctors is charged with negligently failing to test for strep throat and failing to look into her medical history and see that she had a high risk of infection. Another doctor is also charged with this negligence, as well as failing to diagnose the woman with sepsis and failing to obtain test results before discharging the woman. The final doctor is charged with failing to administer antibiotics to the woman in a timely fashion and failing to recognize the woman’s serious condition and treat it accordingly.
The $700,000 lawsuit was filed to help the family as they struggle with grief, mental suffering and lack of companionship. Doctors and other medical professionals owe their patients a certain level of care. If they are found to be negligent in providing that care, they may be liable for damages.
Our
Blogs
Failure to diagnose leaves woman dead; hospital facing lawsuit
Author
Jay W. Dankner
JAY W. DANKNER was born, raised and educated in Brooklyn, New York. After graduation from law school in 1973, he joined the firm of the legendary, Harry H, Lipsig, under whose tutelage he learned the intricacies of civil litigation and trials. He tried and won his first case against General Motors in a case involving a design defect within weeks after his admission. Thereafter, he focused his attention on the emerging and developing field of law known as products liability litigation.
Categories
Recent Post
Case Results
$10,000,000
Sexual assault of a child at a summer baseball camp
$8,300,000
Delay in treatment of peripheral vascular disease in a 52 year old woman resulting in loss of lower limb
