Robert Klein went to a hospital emergency room complaining of right flank pain, urinary burning, and blood in his urine. He was 48 years old at the time. A third-year resident, Dr. Lien Nguyen, ordered a CT scan. The CT scan results revealed kidney stones and a bladder mass. Dr.…
Articles Posted in Emergency Room Errors
$950,000 Settlement in Wrongful Death Caused by Failure to Diagnose and Treat Bowel Perforation
Doe was 32 when he was taken to Roe Hospital’s emergency room suffering from abdominal distention, constipation and discomfort. There were a large number of patients in the emergency room at the time Doe came in. In the emergency department, Mr. Doe was brought to a hallway because of the…
$3 Million Jury Verdict in Failure to Diagnose and Treat Spinal Cord Injury That Left Patient Paralyzed
Samuel Chifalo, 63, fell and hit his head. An ambulance crew arrived and put a cervical collar on before taking him to Parkview Medical Center. At the hospital, the staff noted that Chifalo had difficulty moving his arms and legs. Nevertheless, emergency room physician Dr. Ashley Ostrand did not document…
$10 Million Jury Verdict for Permanent Deformity to Two-Year-Old Child’s Right Arm
Then 2-year-old Doe was taken to a children’s hospital after suffering a fall. A pediatric resident, Dr. James Prosser, set Doe’s fractured right arm and placed a cast on the arm. Later that day, Doe was returned to the hospital, where another physician examined him again and discharged him. Doe’s…
$4.7 Million Jury Verdict for Negligence in Choosing Not to Detect Misplaced Catheter
Connie Lockhart was hospitalized after overdosing on medication. She was 58 years old at the time of this incident. An emergency room physician inserted a central line femoral catheter in her right leg. However, this was misplaced into her femoral artery instead of her femoral vein. Lockhart was transferred to…
$2.1 Million Jury Verdict for Failure to Timely Diagnose and Treat Temporal Arteritis
Sharon Wiser, 62, had a history of migraine headaches. She experienced right-sided headaches over a two-week period. She went to Essentia Health Duluth Clinic, where she reported her headache history and told the clinic staff that she was suffering from blurred vision. Wiser was discharged from the clinic with a…
$3.86 Million Jury Verdict for Injuries Suffered from Failure to Perform Stroke Workup
Paul Chicoine was 47 years old when he experienced nausea, vomiting and extreme dizziness as he was painting a ceiling. He then developed left-sided numbness, weakness, and slurred speech. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital where he was given medication. An emergency physician, Dr. Michael Mendola, ordered blood…
$3.5 Million Jury Verdict in Failure to Diagnose and Treat Ischemic Stroke
Melanie Smith, 40, was taken to a hospital suffering from a severe headache, slurred speech, dizziness, right-sided weakness, and vomiting. These were all apparent signs of a stroke. Two hours after she arrived at the hospital, an emergency physician, Dr. Antonio Baca, examined her, prescribed migraine medication and ordered a…
$11.05 Million Jury Verdict in Failure to Treat Emergency Compartment Syndrome Resulting in Double Leg Amputation
Michael Fava, 58, went to the emergency department complaining of leg pain that had not improved since he was seen at another hospital the previous day. He was diagnosed with having a retroperitoneal hemorrhage and a lack of blood flow to the legs. However, the treating vascular surgeons, Dr. Harold…
$1.6 Million Settlement Reached After Mediation for Wrongful Death of Patient Caused by Overuse of Lovenox
In the confidential reporting of this case, Mr. Doe, 58, developed shortness of breath. He was admitted to a local hospital where he underwent various tests to rule out pulmonary embolism. The hospital staff interpreted a pulmonary angiogram suspicious for, but not diagnostic of, an embolism. Mr. Doe was prescribed…