Articles Posted in Misdiagnosis of Infection

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Ethel Bolton had been a resident of Glenshire Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Richton Park, Ill. She was there from 2001 until 2006. During the years 2004 through 2006, she was cared for by internist Dr. Lance Wallace.

On July 7, 2005, Bolton had an abnormal albumin level of 3.2, which is a sign of malnutrition.

Beginning on Sept. 30, 2005, Bolton also had skin breakdowns and bedsores, which worsened over the next four months. On Jan. 29, 2006, Bolton’s daughter, Margaret, noticed at the nursing home that her mother was naked in a backroom in a general state of neglect showing signs of malnutrition, dehydration, emaciation and multiple areas of skin breakdown and bedsores.

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Katherine Crawford was admitted to Westlake Community Hospital for shortness of breath and hypotension following an arterial venous fistula repair surgery of Sept. 17, 2005. She was 38 years old and was an end-stage renal disease patient. Crawford had been on dialysis for 11 years. Her medical history also included COPD, obstructive sleep apnea, chronic hypotension, hypertension and pulmonary hypertension.

The defendant internist, Dr. Karim Yunez, was the attending physician for the hospitalization of Sept. 17, 2005 and had previously treated Crawford during prior admissions to the hospital.

The defendant nephrologist, Dr. Constantine Dellis, was consulted to handle the patient’s dialysis needs during her hospitalization.

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Charles Blevins, 63, underwent outpatient arthroscopic knee surgery. Four days after the surgery, Blevins went to a hospital emergency room complaining of fever and a hot and swollen knee. He was diagnosed as having pseudomonas infection and required hospitalization for one month; during that time he received IV antibiotics.

The infection, however, destroyed Blevins’s right knee joint, which necessitated a total knee replacement and required revision about a year later.

Blevins filed a lawsuit against the surgical center alleging the use of unsterile surgical instruments. According to Blevins’s lawsuit, at least 3 other patients contracted the same type of infection during the 10-day period surrounding his surgery. The lawsuit did not claim lost income.

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Karol Stawarz was complaining to his primary care physician, Dr. Victor Forys, about his lower abdominal pain. Dr. Forys diagnosed gastroenteritis and prescribed medicine. He also told Stawarz to follow up in 24 hours or go directly to the hospital if his condition got worse.

On the following day, Stawarz went to a hospital where he was diagnosed as having a perforated appendix. Stawarz required an emergency appendectomy and later developed a fistula, which necessitated a temporary colostomy.

Stawarz and his wife  sued Dr. Forys and his medical practice, claiming that Dr. Forys chose not to timely diagnose the appendicitis by ordering a stat CT scan and sending Stawarz directly to the hospital after that examination.

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An Alabama medical negligence case that found its way to the state supreme court, arose out of a jury’s verdict in the amount of $3.2 million. The verdict came in favor of the family of Lauree Ellison involving medical malpractice and hospital negligence at Baptist Medical Center East (BMCE).  The trial court denied the defendant’s post judgment motions seeking a new trial, or in the alternative, a reduction in the judgment.  The motion to reduce the verdict amount was based on the statutory cap contained in the Alabama code.

On Sept. 3, 2005, Lauree Ellison was treated in the emergency room as a patient of Baptist Medical Center East in Montgomery, Ala.  She was 73 years old and suffered from a number of chronic pre-existing medical conditions.  Ellison was there for an evaluation after she had fallen at her home. 

While she was in the emergency room, she mentioned that she had a sore throat.  An emergency room physician ordered a strep test, which was negative. The exam lab results showed that Ellison did not have an infection, and the x-rays that were done were unremarkable for injuries from her fall. She was then discharged and returned home.

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Thomas Jackson, 57, underwent a hernia repair surgery by a general surgeon, the defendant, Dr. Kenneth Goldman.  Hours after the surgery, Jackson complained of severe stomach pain.  His condition deteriorated overnight;  the next morning Jackson developed a fever and a rapid pulse.

The hospital staff noted a decrease in urine output and an elevated white blood cell count, a sign of possible infectious process. The next day Jackson went into organ failure.

Jackson was later diagnosed as having an infection resulting in an intestinal perforation. He then went into surgery to repair the perforation, but spent six months in intensive care, where he developed severe pressure sores.

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Tony Love, 13, came through the emergency department at Ingalls Memorial Hospital complaining of left knee pain and a fever on Sept. 23, 2007.  He was diagnosed with a quadriceps strain and was sent home. 

The next morning, Sept. 24, 2007, Love was seen by the defendant physician, Dr. Arun Shah at Harvey Health Center for complaints of continuing knee pain, but his temperature was normal. 

Dr. Shah diagnosed Love as having a sprained knee.  Three days later on Sept. 27, 2007, Love was taken to South Suburban Hospital with a high fever, severe knee pain and inability to walk. The lab work there showed an elevated white blood count and elevated liver enzymes as well as a blood culture that revealed methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in the knee.

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