Judge Finds Hospital Negligent In Woman’s Death

When a person goes to the hospital and the doctor orders a treatment plan, most patients assume that the doctor knows what is best and do not question the plan.  Generally, patients believe that a doctor who has gone to medical school and has the experience will make the correct medical decisions for their care.  However, this is not always the case as a recent lawsuit shows.  There are instances where negligence can lead to the patient continuing to suffer.

A family has recently been awarded roughly $958,200 by a jury after they heard about the negligent treatment a patient received at a hospital.  A woman was admitted to the hospital with infected ulcers.  According to the lawsuit she was told that she would need hospice care.  Her family claims that the woman was not able to physically or mentally process the information she was being told.  Her family was never told this information either.

Her treatment continued.  She was given narcotics in increasing doses and in increasing frequency.  This allegedly led to her death within a month of her being admitted to the hospital.  Among the claims against the hospital, it was argued that the level of narcotics she was receiving was too high.  Her medical condition did not warrant palliative care and there was not any reason the woman should not have been able to live a normal life expectancy.  This argument was successful.  The family also claimed that the hospital performed painful surgeries that were unnecessary while the woman was alive.  Due to these surgeries she suffered severe conscious pain, difficulty breathing, discomfort, and suffering prior to her death.

The woman’s family sought a judgment of $2 million.  They claimed that the hospital’s negligence caused her husband and their two children mental anguish, emotional pain, and other related suffering.  The family was awarded damages after a judge ended up siding with them.  The husbanded was worked $300,000 in non-economic damages and their children were each awarded $300,000 and another $8,238 in economic damages.

Doctors do not always make the correct decision when it comes to treatment options for their patients.  If you believe that hospital negligence has led to a worsening condition, or eventual death, of you or a loved one an attorney who handles medical malpractice should be contacted as soon as possible.

But what do you think?  I would love to hear from you!  Leave a comment or I also welcome your phone call on my toll-free cell at 1-866-889-6882 or you can drop me an e-mail at jfisher@fishermalpracticelaw.com.  You are always welcome to request my FREE book, The Seven Deadly Mistakes of Malpractice Victims, at the home page of my website at www.protectingpatientrights.com.