An undiagnosed and untreated case of meningitis in 2005 left a then 8 year-old girl permanently brain-damaged. Now, at 15 years old, the girl's mother has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against her daughter's pediatrician as the doctor had noted meningitis as a possible diagnosis but failed to follow through.
Attorney Dominic Paolini is representing S.P. on behalf of her child, A.P., in the lawsuit. Paolini argued in court that on August 12, 2005 Dr. M.L. had written six different possible causes for A.P.'s headaches, sore neck and slight fever in her notes.
Paolini showed the jury Dr. M.L.'s notes. Of the six possible diagnoses migraine, allergies and viral meningitis stood out. However, in regards to the possibility of meningitis, Dr. M.L. wrote, "no evidence upon exam."
Meningitis, if left untreated, can leave the sufferer with permanent brain damage, and in some instances, death. It occurs when an infection travels through the bloodstream and into the brain – causing the brain tissue to swell.
At the time of A.P.'s visit Dr. M.L. was employed at the Greater Lowell Pediatrics Center.
A medical expert, according to Paolini, will be called to testify that viral meningitis cannot be diagnosed during an office exam. Furthermore, the attorney said, if even a mention of "the M word" is made then the doctor should have ordered "a test (spinal tap) to rule it out."
After the August 12th visit A.P. was sent home. The only prescription given was an allergy medication. S.P. was also instructed by Dr. M.L. to keep a "headache diary."
Dr. M.L.'s attorney, John Mulvey, argued that the type of meningitis that A.P. contracted – viral meningoencephalitis – has no treatment, according to his pediatric infectious-disease expert. Mulvey added, "Even supportive measures would not have changed the outcome…Dr. (M.L.) complied with the standard of care. In this case there was no indication that a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) should be done. There was no basis to do it and there (are) risks to the procedure."
Furthermore, according to Mulvey, the symptoms that S.P. shared with Dr. M.L. were not indicators of viral meningitis.
However within two days after Dr. M.L.'s exam A.P. woke up having seizure. S.P. took A.P. immediately over to Lowell's Saints Memorial Medical Center. Doctors detected viral meningitis and transferred her right over to Boston's Children's Hospital. A.P. suffered with seizures as her brain swelled, then had a stroke and went into a coma.
Three weeks later A.P. came out of her coma, but had suffered severe brain damage. She has since had to relearn how to walk, talk and eat. S.P. was told that her daughter would never develop beyond a child's level and would require life-long assistance.
S.P. said, "She has the mind of a three-year-old but she's 15. The TV is her best friend, it breaks my heart."
Dr. W.B., a life-care planning expert, calculated that A.P.'s care would cost over $14 million over the course of her lifetime.
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