Articles Posted in Hospital Errors

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When Linda Smith began experiencing abdominal pain, bloating and diarrhea, she consulted a gastroenterologist. The doctor ordered a CT scan. It was interpreted by a radiologist, Dr. Jonathan Foss, showing an unremarkable pancreas.

Approximately two and a half years later, Smith read through the radiologist’s addendum to her medical chart, which showed that she had a pancreatic mass. An MRI was recommended for her.

Smith was subsequently diagnosed as having metastatic pancreatic cancer, which required chemotherapy and surgery. Despite undergoing treatment, Smith died at the age of 56. She was survived by her husband and four adult children.
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Rita Epps, 63, went to the Southside Regional Medical Center emergency room. While at the hospital, Epps underwent testing, which showed she was suffering from acute kidney failure. She was admitted to the hospital; the hospitalist ordered a nephrology consultation with the on-call nephrologist.

Dr. Sajid Naveed, the on-call nephrologist, said he did not receive that order. The same night, Epps was given additional pain medication. Testing showed that she was suffering from severe acidosis. Dr. Naveed ordered additional bicarbonate but did not come to the hospital or order emergency dialysis, which apparently was desperately needed.

Early the next morning, Dr. Naveed came to the hospital and ordered renal replacement therapy. After Epps had a catheter inserted, she suffered cardiac arrest, which led to her untimely death several days later. Epps was survived by her husband and three adult children.
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Ms. Doe, 48, was admitted to a hospital where blood work showed several severe abnormalities. Nonetheless, Dr. Roe, the hospitalist overseeing Ms. Doe’s care, discharged her. Ms. Doe’s condition worsened, and she returned to the hospital. She was diagnosed with leukemia and was then transferred to another hospital, where she was diagnosed with lymphoma.

Ms. Doe died two weeks after she first presented to the hospital. She was survived by her husband and five children.

The lawsuit against the hospitalist and others alleged medical negligence and wrongful death. The Doe family claimed that the hospitalist should not have discharged Ms. Doe in light of her abnormal blood work. It was also alleged that the defendant chose not to provide the correct diagnosis of lymphoma. Lymphoma was the cause of death listed on Ms. Doe’s death certificate.
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Ms. Doe underwent successful breast reconstruction surgery. She was recovering in the hospital when she began to experience weakness on one side of her body, which progressed to full-side weakness, facial drooping and loss of speech. Ms. Doe’s family members and pastor reported her symptoms to hospital nurses who allegedly documented the symptoms, but chose not to report them to Ms. Doe’s attending physician for 24 hours.

Ms. Doe was subsequently diagnosed as having suffered a stroke. She has lost complete use of one arm, has limited use of one of her legs, and has permanent loss of speech.

Ms. Doe sued the hospital, alleging liability for the nurses’ choosing not to properly respond to obvious stroke symptoms. Ms. Doe asserted that her stroke resulted from a clot that developed into a brain bleed and that doctors could have treated the clot before it caused the sustained bleeding.
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Ms. Doe, 36, went to a hospital emergency department complaining of severe flank or side pain. She underwent testing and was diagnosed as having a kidney stone in her ureter.

Ms. Doe’s test results were allegedly equivocal and showed bacteria in her urine as well as an elevated white blood cell count, which is a sign of infection. However, Ms. Doe was discharged from the emergency room and sent home.

Ms. Doe’s condition worsened. She suffered septic shock, the last stage of infection. Ms. Doe returned to the hospital where she underwent surgery to remove the blockage in her ureter. Despite this treatment, Ms. Doe developed ischemia in her extremities and required surgery to remove necrotic dead or dying tissue.
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Darion Brewer was just seven months old and was sick for nine days. He was placed on Zithromax (Z-pak), an anti-biotic after being taken to a hospital emergency room and urgent care facility. He was seen by a pediatrician, Dr. Cheryl Emoto, who noted that Darion was experiencing respiratory distress and weight loss.

The doctor diagnosed bronchiolitis and prescribed Albuterol, advising Darion’s family to return in a week if his condition did not improve. Sadly, four days later, Darion died. An autopsy reportedly revealed that he had suffered from acute pneumonia. He was survived by his mother.

The Brewer family sued Dr. Emoto and her medical group, alleging that the doctor had misdiagnosed Darion’s condition and chose not to obtain his prior medical records including a hospital x-ray showing pneumonia.
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Anna Mae Burnett had a history of falls. She was admitted to Powerback Rehabilitation after she had spinal surgery. During that admission, she had multiple falls. After the last fall, she was transferred to Pennsylvania Hospital. Over 32 hours later, she was diagnosed with having a T2 burst fracture and spinal cord compression.

Burnett’s condition led to paraplegia and neurogenic bladder and bowel. Almost three years later, she died of sepsis that developed from a urinary tract infection. She was 73 years old at the time of her death.

Burnett’s estate sued the hospital and the rehabilitation facility and its affiliates.
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Julius D’Amico, 73, was admitted to Bryn Mawr Hospital for surgery to treat what was believed to be an infection in her arm AV graft used for hemodialysis. During the surgery, she lost blood and fluid volume, which led to a postoperative decrease in her blood pressure, blood volume and hemoglobin.

In addition, that night she suffered prolonged periods of hypotension and decreased tissue profusion. After undergoing hemodialysis the next day, she became unstable, lost consciousness and suffered a fatal heart attack.

D’Amico was survived by her husband and two adult daughters.
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Carolyn Parris, a 76-year-old woman suffering from dementia, was taken by ambulance to the Mary Black Health Systems Gaffney Emergency Room. She was admitted for pneumonia and identified as a moderate fall risk.

Early one morning, her bed alarm sounded, prompting the staff to come to her room where they found her in the doorway of her bathroom on the floor. An x-ray revealed that she had suffered a fractured ankle.

As a result of that injury, Parris required open reduction and internal fixation surgery and was transferred to a nursing home.
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Doe, age 35, was hospitalized for treatment of pneumonia. Doe’s pneumonia cleared, but follow-up X-rays taken one month later and seven months after that showed a suspicious lesion on her lung. The radiologist interpreting the X-rays chose not to note or record the lesion.

Almost three years later, Ms. Doe underwent a CT scan, which formed the basis of a diagnosis of Stage IV inoperable non-small cell lung cancer.

The lawsuit alleged that the delayed diagnosis of lung cancer reduced Ms. Doe’s chances of survival from 85% to 10% in that the lesion measured 1 cm when first seen but had grown to 3.5 cm by the time she received the diagnosis.
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