Alabama Widow Awarded $3 Million In Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

When suffering from a serious medical condition people should seek medical attention immediately. However, even if you seek treatment immediately a doctor can be negligent and delay treatment. While treatment is delayed, patients can become even sicker and may eventually become so sick that they may then be beyond the ability to respond to treatment.

Once a doctor is sure of a diagnosis and the patient agrees, the patient should receive proper treatment immediately. However, even though one man’s care and treatment was determined on the first day he was admitted, this Alabama man did not receive the surgery he needed to save his life immediately. As a result he died a month later.

The victim in this lawsuit was Alan Hager. He was admitted to Brookwood Medical Center on November 22, 2008 with sever gallbladder pain. Every doctor that was involved with Mr. Hager’s treatment and care had determined from the first day of his admittance that his gallbladder needed to be removed. However it was decided by the surgeon to wait on removing the gallbladder. Mr. Hager was then discharged on November 27, 2008 only to be readmitted on November 29th. He remained in the hospital until December 5th. After leaving on December 5th he returned to the emergency room on December 9th, complaining of gallbladder pain. He remained in the hospital until he died on December 25, 2008.

The cause of Mr. Hager’s death was from a severely inflamed and infected pus-filled gallbladder. While Mr. Hager was being continuously discharged and readmitted, the surgeon continued to delay the gallbladder surgery for various unjustified reasons. These delays lead to Mr. Hager’s death.

The complaint filed in December of 2010 named a dozen physicians and medical practices. The trial lasted 17 days and the jury deliberated for about an hour. At the end of the trial the verdict was only against the surgeon and Birmingham Surgical. The jury awarded Mr. Hager’s widow $3 million.

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