Personal Injury Law

Federal Government Settle Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

By Steven M. Levin and John J. Perconti

The U.S. government has agreed to pay a family nearly $1 million to settle a medical malpractice case. The man was being treated for leukemia at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Salt Lake City in 2004 when he developed a severe infection and died. His family sued, claiming the hospital failed to give him antibiotics in time. He died of sepsis with a low-white-blood-cell count. The U.S. government agreed to settle the nearly 2-year-old case for $950,000 to cover general damages and future lost income. The hospital allegedly did not administer antibiotics when they could have and initially told the patient to take Gas-X instead of advising him to go to the emergency room. The man had just finished his last chemotherapy treatment and discovered he had diarrhea and abdominal pain. Without being administered antibiotics his white blood cell count lowered which led to a bacterial infection in his colon. The suit alleges that two doctors ordered antibiotics in the ER but that nurses failed to follow orders. The man was waiting to be plugged into his IV and was admitted to intensive care and placed on a ventilator, dying a few days later. To read the full story, click here.

Full post as published by Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog on October 11, 2008 (boomark / email).