January 13, 2008, a fifteen-year-old boy died of a bilateral pulmonary embolism, which had been misdiagnosed days earlier in the emergency room. When his parents filed a medical malpractice suit, a court originally ruled that the doctor receive a summary judgment. This means that a judge would rule out the need for a jury trial because the case was clear cut and not in the family's favor. For this ruling that sided with the doctor, a judge cited the state's laws on emergency medical treatment, where it says that a medical professional cannot "be held liable unless it is proven by clear and convincing evidence that the physician or health care provider's actions showed gross negligence".
The case went to an appeals court. The Court of Appeals ruled that if the family wanted a jury trial, they had to prove that the doctor failed to "exercise even slight care", not that he failed to "exercise ordinary care". That is a much harder thing to prove, and the court did not think this had been proved. The family appealed all the way to the Supreme Court of Georgia, and the decision was unanimous. The case would be allowed to go to a jury trial.
The case started based on events that occurred on December 29, 2007, according to court documents, which is when the mother visited the emergency room with her 15-year-old son. This was eight days after he had undergone arthroscopic knee surgery for an injury that had been sustained while playing football. He was in the emergency room for pain on the left side of his chest, pain which increased whenever he took a big breath, or even when he lied down.
The doctor ordered an X-ray of the boy's chest as well as an EKG (electrocardiogram). The doctor said that he had been informed of the boy's medical history and knew about the knee surgery he had undergone. Based on these results, and the fact that the boy did not complain of shortness of breath, the doctor said that the symptoms did not appear to come from a pulmonary embolism. He prescribed medications that seemed to relieve the pain; he had diagnosed the boy with pleurisy, which is a sharp lung pain that usually is caused by an infection.
Days later, their son again suffered chest pain and troubled breathing. He was taken to the hospital in an ambulance, and he died of a bilateral pulmonary embolism. A pulmonary embolism is a clogged lung artery, which usually means that a blood clot made its way up from the leg. The symptoms of this condition include shortness of breath, chest pain, and coughing up some blood. If anti-clotting medications are quickly taken, the chances of survival are good.
The doctor testified that he had considered pulmonary embolism, but decided against it because the patient was young, his vital signs were good, and the medication appeared to work. According to the family's medical experts, however, the doctor failed to fulfill "the standard of care" because he should not have ruled out the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism until he had ordered a lung scan. The state Supreme Court decided that this was enough evidence for a jury to decide that the doctor had been grossly negligent.
Misdiagnosis is one of the top reasons that medical malpractice claims are filed, and often, these come after tragic circumstances. If you or a loved one have suffered from a medical professional's negligence, compensation cannot make amends for what you have gone through, but it can help you get rid of your medical bills and related damages. Learn more about your rights when you call a medical malpractice attorney today!