NYC, NY (NewYorkInjuryNews.com) — A 50 year-old woman is operated on in a hospital to remove a goiter (an enlarged thyroid gland in her neck). All doctors agree that in operations of this type the usual immediate post-operative result is a lessening of the amount of body calcium. If the calcium becomes too low, it could potentially cause difficulty in a patient’s swallowing and breathing.
The operating surgeon ordered calcium to be given, however no calcium was ever given to her from the time the surgery ended. The next morning, the patient is very, agitated and has difficulty in swallowing. Shortly after, she complains of shortness of breath and increased swelling in the area of her neck. The patient continues to struggle to breath and goes into respiratory failure; eventually she sustained brain anoxic encephalopathy (brain damage caused by lack of oxygen) and is now in a coma.
The family of the patient decides to bring a malpractice lawsuit to the hospital. During trial, the plaintiff is unable to tell her story to the jury due to her being in an incapacitated state. For this reason, the case has to rely upon our experts’ analysis of the hospital records and the pretrial depositions (testimony taken under oath) of hospital employees. The plaintiff’s trial lawyer presented evidence that showed a hospital second year resident, who had only been at the hospital for threes weeks, checked on the patient the night she got out surgery but failed to administer the appropriate tests and instead told the nurse that she was fine.
This story is based on a real case and although the medical implications in this case are complicated, the plaintiff demonstrated that the hospital employees failed to promptly come to the aid of the patient.
Robert G. Sullivan is a New York New York Medical Malpractice attorney, leading trial lawyer handling medical malpractice cases.
Sullivan Papain Block McGrath & Cannavo, P.C.Manhattan Office
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