Pennsylvania residents who suffer conditions that require medical care will naturally rely on the knowledge and expertise of health-care providers to perform proper examinations before diagnosing and treating illnesses. Unfortunately, there are cases in which doctors fail to provide an accurate diagnosis, and in some cases, a patient’s medical history is not considered when treatment is ordered. A woman in another state recently filed a lawsuit against a medical facility, alleging medical negligence caused her husband’s wrongful death.
In the lawsuit, the wife claims her husband visited the defendant’s medical clinic on the last day of January 2014. He allegedly experienced flu-like symptoms, including coughing and a high temperature. The surviving wife claims her husband was diagnosed with and treated for bronchitis before he was sent home.
The plaintiff alleges the defendant failed to order diagnostic tests that would be appropriate considering the man’s medical history, including hyperlipidemia and hypertension, along with the possibility of a genetic heart disease. It is further alleged that no diagnostic tests were ordered during a follow-up consultation on Feb. 4 either, and his condition deteriorated rapidly. The complaint states that he was hospitalized in another facility on Feb. 6 and transferred to a critical care facility later. The plaintiff’s husband died on March 12 from conditions including influenza pneumonia, septic shock, acute renal failure and more.
Whenever a loved one of a Pennsylvania resident dies an untimely death believed to have been caused by the negligence of medical facilities or physicians, the surviving family members may pursue financial relief by filing a medical malpractice lawsuit in a civil court. This is a complicated area of the law, and navigating such a lawsuit may be best left to an experienced medical malpractice attorney. A lawyer will likely have the resources to obtain the necessary documented evidence required to establish medical negligence as will be required by the court before it will consider entering a monetary judgment.
Source: wvrecord.com, “Woman brings wrongful death suit against clinic over husband’s death“, Robert Hadley, April 4, 2016