Personal Injury Law

Doctor Fails to Diagnose Brain Hemorrhage That Kills 20 Year-Old

By Steven M. Levin and John J. Perconti

A medical malpractice lawsuit was filed recently after a terrible medical mistake led to the sudden death of a young 20 year old woman.

As reported in the Mankato Free Press, Elizabeth Moen was 19 years old when she made her first trip to a local clinic in late January 2008. Elizabeth was admitted to the hospital following the visit after reporting severe headaches, vomiting, diarrhea, and stiffness in her neck. These are all common symptoms of subarachnoid hemorrhage. According to Medline Plus, these hemorrhages involve bleeding between the brain and the tissues surrounding it.

However, regardless of the symptoms, the doctor at the clinic failed to test for the hemorrhage and instead diagnosed Elizabeth with migraine headaches. After leaving the hospital, Elizabeth went to visit the doctor again after continuing to suffer from the same problems. The doctor?s solution was more pain medication. At no point did the health care professional order follow up visits or warn Elizabeth that anything other than migraines could have been involved in her health issue.

Eventually, about three weeks after her first visit, Elizabeth was back in the hospitals after her headaches had increased in severity and involved convulsions. It was only then that a CT scan was performed revealing a brain hemorrhage. She was airlifted to a hospital to attempt emergency procedures, but it was too late to save her. She was pronounced dead, and was kept alive for a short time so her organs could be donated.

Our Chicago medical malpractice lawyers at Levin & Perconti are intimately aware of the many medical mistakes made in cases like Elizabeth?s. The doctors failed to diagnose the obvious hemorrhage symptoms, failed to perform any tests that would have shown the problem, and did not even ask Elizabeth about a history of migraines before erroneously concluding that she had them. No family should have to suffer the tragedy that the Moens endured in losing their daughter. If you suspect that you or someone you know suffered a similar loss that could have been prevented, please contact our medical malpractice attorneys today and learn about your rights.

Full post as published by Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog on August 22, 2010 (boomark / email).