Carol Haas was 68 years old when she went to a nearby hospital where she was diagnosed with a myocardial infarction — a heart attack. She underwent an angioplasty performed by a cardiologist, Dr. Kevin Boyle.
Apparently because of some blocked artery or arteries, she underwent an angioplasty, which is a method used to open up clogged or blocked arteries. This procedure is performed by a cardiologist who threads a thin tube through a blood vessel in the arm or groin up to the involved site in the artery. The tube has a tiny balloon on the end. When the tube is in place, the doctor inflates the balloon to push the plaque outward against the wall of the artery. This widens the artery and restores blood flow. During that procedure, Haas developed extensive intracoronary thrombi, or clots and other heart damage; she required an emergency coronary bypass.
Haas suffered a cardiogenic shock and was transferred to another hospital so that she could be evaluated for a heart transplant. Unfortunately, she died before the evaluation. Haas was survived by her husband and five adult children.
Her family brought a lawsuit against the hospital claiming that nurses chose not to administer the appropriate anticoagulants — blood thinners — before the angioplasty. It was maintained that the anticoagulants should have been introduced intravenously with Heparin or Lovenox instead of using subcutaneous Lovenox.
A subcutaneous injection is administered by a needle into the skin; the plaintiff claimed Haas should have received an intravenous application.
In addition, the lawsuit claimed that Haas had not been adequately anticoagulated during the angioplasty in that she suffered an IV infiltration during the procedure, which caused fluid to enter her tissue and not her vein for a 45-minute period.
The jury’s verdict was $374,000 for this wrongful death case.
Attorneys representing the Carol Haas family were Bartholomew J. Dalton and Andrew C. Dalton.
At the trial, the Haas family introduced experts who testified in cardiology and nursing. The defendants introduced experts who gave opinions in interventional cardiology, nursing, hematology and internal medicine.
Haas v. Doyle, No. SN12C-11-184 (Del. Super. Ct. New Castle County, April 17, 2015).
Kreisman Law Offices has been handling medical malpractice cases, hospital negligence cases, nursing negligence cases and nursing home negligence and abuse cases for individuals and families who have been harmed, injured or died as a result of the carelessness or negligence of a medical provider for more than 40 years in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas, including Tinley Park, Highwood, Homewood, Hillside, Inverness, Orland Park, Joliet, Waukegan, Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, Forest Park, Crestwood, Mount Prospect, Riverside, Chicago (South Loop, Lincoln Park, Logan Square, Irving Park, Garfield Park, West Town, Greek Town, Bronzeville), Schaumburg, Wood Dale and Grayslake, Ill.
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