Articles Posted in Deep Vein Thrombosis

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Maria Elena Fernandez, 71, fell and fractured her ankle. She was taken to a nearby hospital where she was met by orthopedist Dr. Charles Jordan who ordered Heparin, a blood thinner, to treat Fernandez’s risk of deep vein thrombosis. The doctor also ordered a compression boot to handle the fractured ankle.

Three days after that hospital admission, Dr. Jordan sent Fernandez to St. Anne’s Nursing Care & Residence with orders that she receive anticoagulants.

Despite this doctor order, Fernandez did not receive the anticoagulant medicine at St. Anne’s Nursing Care.
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Isatu Sheriff, 39, underwent the removal of a bunion by a podiatrist and was placed on blood thinners following the surgery. One week after finishing the blood thinning medicine, she went to an urgent care facility complaining of leg pain. An emergency room physician performed a workup for muscle pain and back pain and prescribed opioids.

Sheriff collapsed and died eight days after that urgent care facility visit. The cause was determined to be a pulmonary embolism that traveled from her leg to lodge in her lung. She had been a certified nursing aid earning approximately $38,000 annually and was survived by her husband and two minor children.

Sheriff’s husband sued the doctor alleging that she chose not to test for and diagnose deep vein thrombosis. The Sheriff lawsuit alleged that the doctor should have ordered a Doppler ultrasound and a D-Dimer test, which would have revealed a treatable blood clot.
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