Articles Posted in Cardiac Arrest

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Mr. Doe., 66, presented to a hospital emergency room shortly before midnight, complaining of chest pain. He underwent an EKG and testing of his troponin levels; both tests allegedly were “nonspecific.” After Doe began belching excessively, treating physicians and medical providers allegedly administered a gastrointestinal cocktail.

Doe fell asleep and was later discharged and sent home. The next evening, Doe returned to the emergency room, complaining of continued chest pain.

He was transferred to another facility where testing revealed a 100% occlusion, blockage in his coronary artery. Doe also was treated for shock, stroke, acute kidney injury and respiratory failure among other things.
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During an endoscopy procedure at a surgery center, Nicholas Merlo’s oxygen saturation declined. A surgery center employee called 911. Emergency medical crews from American Ambulance arrived. Merlo was intubated and transported to the nearest hospital.

Enroute to the hospital, paramedics in the ambulance allegedly noted that Merlo had no breath sounds on one side and that his oxygen levels had dropped. Multiple attempts to reintubate Merlo in the back of the ambulance were unsuccessful.

When Merlo did arrive at the hospital, he suffered cardiac arrest. That lack of oxygen resulted in hypoxic brain damage. Merlo, 39, is now in a permanent vegetative state.
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Mr. Doe, in his mid-60s, was diagnosed as having severe aortic stenosis. He consulted with Dr. Roe, a cardiologist who recommended coronary angiography, ventriculography and an aortography.

While Mr. Doe was undergoing these procedures, a catheter became untangled and lodged in his heart muscle. Dr. Roe continued to inject dye through the entangled catheter, which then led to an “explosion” that ruptured Mr. Doe’s heart.

Mr. Doe suffered cardiac arrest, cardiac tamponade and shock. He died the next day. He was survived by his wife, children and grandchildren.
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David Detweiler, 73, was suffering from chronic atrial fibrillation, a condition where a patient has an irregular heartbeat or a heartbeat that is faster than an acceptable rate. He also had other cardiac issues. He was a long-time patient of cardiologist Dr. Mitchell Greenspan.

Dr. Greenspan cleared Detweiler to undergo an aortobifemoral bypass to treat his aortoiliac occlusive disease. An aortobifemoral bypass is surgery to redirect blood around narrowed or blocked blood vessels in the abdomen or groin areas. The surgery is performed to increase blood flow to the legs.

A vascular surgeon did the procedure without complications. Detweiler was transferred to the hospital’s ICU in stable condition following the surgery.
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Mr. Doe, 56, had a history of hypertension and dyslipidemia. He experienced shortness of breath over a three-month period and consulted Dr. Roe’s physician assistant. The physician assistant, who was a named defendant in this case, performed an examination reported as normal. Mr. Doe then underwent an in-office EKG, which showed a normal sinus rhythm.

Mr. Doe was scheduled for a stress test and a follow-up visit approximately one month later. However, before these appointments took place, Mr. Doe suffered a fatal cardiac arrest.

Mr. Doe had worked as a part-time security guard and was survived by his wife and two adult daughters.
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Madaline Pitkin, 26, was booked into the Washington County jail after being arrested for unlawful possession of heroin. For the next week, Pitkin, while alone in her jail cell, suffered from opioid withdrawal resulting in vomiting, diarrhea, and limited eating and drinking.

The jail staff came to her cell but did not respond to her four requests for medical care. She was not transferred to a hospital as she requested. Pitkin later died of a cardiac event in her jail cell. She is survived by her parent and sibling.

Pitkin’s estate filed a lawsuit against Corizon Health Inc., the county, and several healthcare staff members, claiming they chose not to diagnose and treat dehydration. The Pitkin family argued that she required transfer to a hospital and intravenous saline treatment in light of her symptoms.
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Jodi Hall sued Dr. Roberto P. Cippola for medical malpractice, claiming that he had violated the applicable standard of care by not referring Jason Hall, Jodi’s husband, to a hospital emergency room. Jason had gone to St. Joseph’s PromptCare complaining of chest pain.

The receptionist at the urgent care center asked Jason to describe his symptoms. Her notes said: “Left upper chest pain, was moving a lot of metal today, ‘cramping in neck and arms sometimes.'”

The applicable standard of care called for sending a patient to the emergency room if his chest pain was “suspected to be of cardiac origin.”
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Robert Suryadeth, 64, suffered from valvular heart disease. He was about to undergo outpatient surgery for his back problems. He met with an internist, Dr. Aruna Paspula, who had never before treated or seen Suryadeth.

Dr. Paspula did an electrocardiogram and listened to Suryadeth’s heart. Dr. Paspula cleared Suryadeth for surgery.

After the surgery, Suryadeth was discharged to go home. He died later that day. An autopsy showed that there were three blocked coronary arteries that undoubtedly were related to the cardiac arrest that caused his death. Suryadeth was survived by his wife and three children.
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Sharon Kimble, 50, suffered from chronic back pain. She took opioid pain medication and other drugs to alleviate her back pain. Kimble underwent back surgery at Laser Spine Institute to address her back pain.

Following this surgery, she was under the care of an anesthesiologist, Dr. Glen Rubenstein. Dr. Rubenstein ordered several essential nervous system depressants, including Dilaudid and Flexeril for pain control.

The Laser Spine Institute discharged Kimble two hours after her surgery to a nearby hotel with a prescription for oxycodone and instructions to continue her preoperative medications, including other central nervous system depressants.
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On May 13, 2015, Millicent Mnookin suffered a sudden drop in oxygen followed by cardiac arrest while she was under general anesthesia for surgery at Northwest Community Hospital. She was taken to an intensive care unit but died just two weeks later.

Mnookin’s husband, Barry Mnookin, who was appointed executor of her estate, filed a lawsuit against several defendants, including Northwest Community Hospital and Dr. Syed Ahmed, who had been her anesthesiologist. The lawsuit alleged negligence by Dr. Ahmed as an employee of Northwest Community Hospital.

During the discovery process, her husband’s attorney sent Northwest Community Hospital requests for production of documents. The hospital filed a privilege log, identifying 24 documents that it asserted were privileged and protected from discovery under the Medical Studies Act. He moved for an in-camera inspection of all of the allegedly privileged documents. In response, the trial court asked Northwest Community to “redact the portion of each privileged document for which [Northwest] claimed privileged.” Northwest redacted the entire text of every document, leaving only the printed headline.
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