In Cape Coral, Florida, Young Mother of Three Dies Due to Medical Negligence
According to statistics, between 44,000 to 98,000 Americans die in hospitals each year due to preventable medical errors.
The victim in this medical negligence case was a young 39 year old mother of three children who went to the emergency room of a hospital in Cape Coral, Florida after fever for two days, with her highest temperature being 104 degrees. She also had diarrhea, nausea without vomiting, and abdominal cramps in the bilateral mid to lower abdomen. She also complained of a painful lump on the left side of her neck that had come up over the past two weeks but had become painful in the last couple of days.
After examination and some minor testing, she was given prescriptions for Bactrim for infection and Paregoric for the diarrhea and advised to take Ibuprofen and to follow-up with her primary physician the following morning. It should be noted that some blood work had been ordered and then canceled, no EKG was ordered and no chest x-ray or abdominal x-rays were ordered.
The next morning, her husband stated that she did not rest well, she had chills and her temperature was 96.8. Her husband then called the emergency room, spoke with one of the nurses on duty and informed her of the events of the previous evening and that her temperature went from 104 to 96.8 within 10 hours. The nurse stated that he did not need to bring her back in to the emergency room because the temperature drop was just an effect of this medication.
Next the victim attempted to make an appointment with her primary care physician and was informed that she could not get in to see him for three days. Her husband then attempted to get an appointment for her to see his physician, but they could not see her for two days. The victim also tried to make an appointment with a third physician to no avail. The husband confirmed that he told these individuals on the phone that the victim had been to the hospital, the prescriptions she had been given and the symptoms she had. Still, no one was able to see her on that day.
About six o’clock that evening, because they could not get in to see a physician and she was steadily getting worse, her husband once again took her to the emergency room. The nurses attempted to take her blood pressure three times in triage and were unable to get a blood pressure reading. After the third time, she was taken back into a room immediately, a series of x-rays were taken, she was given antibiotics intravenously and a CAT scan of her abdomen was performed. After obtaining the results of the CAT scan, one of the emergency room physicians informed them that she would either be taken for surgery or placed in ICU for observation.
It was decided that she would be taken to ICU for observation. Her husband stayed with her until 11:00 p.m. and during that time she was awake and alert.
The husband called the hospital the following morning at 5:15 a.m. to ask how his wife was doing and was told that she did not have a good night and that she was in critical condition. He rushed to the hospital to be with his wife. He stated that the physicians and nurses attempted a multitude of procedures, but were unable to stabilize her, and she passed away at 11:49 a.m.
The family of the deceased contacted Attorney Richard D. Schuler to assist them in this matter. Mr. Schuler investigated this case thoroughly and filed a lawsuit against the hospital, the treating emergency room physicians, and the physician’s assistant for failure to properly care, treat and diagnose this lady’s illness; failure to order/perform x-rays in a timely manner; and for cancellation of laboratory testing which had been ordered.
Mr. Schuler was successful in obtaining a settlement with all defendants in this case in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for the benefit of the minor children.
