Death and subsequent move

[MamaLinda]

Last May, 2011, my daughter yrs old, was found unresponsive at a persons house. 911 was called and died enroute to hospital. Coroner came to our apt at midnight to give us this devastating news , she felt she had had a seizure that brought on a heart attack. Now some background info; she was a known Type 1 diabetic, bi-polar, had problems w/walking (possible diabetic neuropathy legs and hands). Person who left her at this home took her car (purchased w/last imcome tax check for $500.00)knowing she wasn't feeling well and was gone for several hours. Over the previous 4 yrs, she basically was homeless due to issues at home. We let her use our address for mail, but she stayed w/us and several other people as she was permitted. She injured her foot during a seizure at our home, and while at that time working at a fast food restaurant, she continued working for over a month beefore going to ER, her foot was secondary to diabetes and they did nothing for her foot. about a week or so later she went to ER again about her foot, same results, no exrays etc. A third ER visit resulted in admission (for diabetes related problem, again, nothing done about her foot) she was in ICU for 3 days, discharged 4th day). Finally took her to different hospital where ER Dr. immediately diagnosed something wrong w/foot and referred her to Orthopedic Dr, who told her foot was broken. Over the next 3 months she wore a cast and subsequently lost her job. From age 23 to when she died, she had no insurance, her parents both were affected by economy (lost their home) and she went to a clinic when parents could afford, free clinics refused her bc she used parents address and wanted their financial info, even though she was 26 yrs old and it was not a personal residence for her. She never was checked for heart probelms, nor was she treated for seizures that had started about 2 yrs prior, even though doctors were made aware of this. Coroners report confirmed advanced heart, liver,kidney damage from diabetes. I feel she was ignored and died unneccessarily though negligent care. I spoke w/ several lawyers, all declined case because "its hard to prove here" (we lived in SC at time), we have since relocated to TX to try to start over. My question is, "can a medical malpractice still be done since we have moved"? I want justice for my daughter, I was at a few of her DR appts w/her and they were not cconcerned w/seizures nor would SC help her as rules there made Medicaid unavailable to her bc she had no children. Can anyone one help or answer this? Thank you.

 

[tranquility]

If you feel you have contacted a fair number of attorneys on the matter and they don't take the case, you should get your head around the fact there is nothing you can do. From an untrained eye sitting on the sideline, I don't think there is anything here because there are a number of hurdles to jump to find liability and because the deceased had many other issues in life as well. Because of the issues, you would need an attorney to have a chance in court.

 

[commentator]

Who do you think should have liability here? The person who left her alone, the ER, the free clinics, the job she lost due to her injury? I can't see where there is any clear cut case for negligence from any entity or individual, just a whole lot of bad choices and bad circumstances.

 

[ecmst12]

It sounds like she chose not to seek medical treatment for her multiple health issues. I suspect she would have qualified for Medicaid if she had applied for it. She was an adult and it was her responsibility to attend to her own healthcare needs. It sounds like she was not maintaining her blood sugars well either - the kind of damage she had takes many years to develop to that point. She was responsible for the state of her health.

I am very sorry for your loss.

 

[Adam G]

Last May, 2011, my daughter yrs old, was found unresponsive at a persons house. 911 was called and died enroute to hospital. Coroner came to our apt at midnight to give us this devastating news , she felt she had had a seizure that brought on a heart attack. Now some background info; she was a known Type 1 diabetic, bi-polar, had problems w/walking (possible diabetic neuropathy legs and hands). Person who left her at this home took her car (purchased w/last imcome tax check for $500.00)knowing she wasn't feeling well and was gone for several hours. Over the previous 4 yrs, she basically was homeless due to issues at home. We let her use our address for mail, but she stayed w/us and several other people as she was permitted. She injured her foot during a seizure at our home, and while at that time working at a fast food restaurant, she continued working for over a month beefore going to ER, her foot was secondary to diabetes and they did nothing for her foot. about a week or so later she went to ER again about her foot, same results, no exrays etc. A third ER visit resulted in admission (for diabetes related problem, again, nothing done about her foot) she was in ICU for 3 days, discharged 4th day). Finally took her to different hospital where ER Dr. immediately diagnosed something wrong w/foot and referred her to Orthopedic Dr, who told her foot was broken. Over the next 3 months she wore a cast and subsequently lost her job. From age 23 to when she died, she had no insurance, her parents both were affected by economy (lost their home) and she went to a clinic when parents could afford, free clinics refused her bc she used parents address and wanted their financial info, even though she was 26 yrs old and it was not a personal residence for her. She never was checked for heart probelms, nor was she treated for seizures that had started about 2 yrs prior, even though doctors were made aware of this. Coroners report confirmed advanced heart, liver,kidney damage from diabetes. I feel she was ignored and died unneccessarily though negligent care. I spoke w/ several lawyers, all declined case because "its hard to prove here" (we lived in SC at time), we have since relocated to TX to try to start over. My question is, "can a medical malpractice still be done since we have moved"? I want justice for my daughter, I was at a few of her DR appts w/her and they were not cconcerned w/seizures nor would SC help her as rules there made Medicaid unavailable to her bc she had no children. Can anyone one help or answer this? Thank you.

Moving doesn't prevent anybody from filing a lawsuit. The venue would still be South Carolina because that's where the alleged malpractice occurred.

Medical malpractice cases are difficult to bring (from a plaintiff's attorney perspective) because expert witnesses and the numerous party depositions make the case expensive. That means they have a lot of risk on their part if they take a case on a contingent fee. There's obvious damages here but liability isn't clear. If you have the money to pay the lawyers hourly and can cover expenses out of pocket, then you would have a better chance at finding a lawyer to represent the estate, if one was ever opened.

 

[armstrong1988]

I see no case in here.... The person already has a lot of disease and you said that she also has an injury. There is a lot of circumstances here.... and she ignored it all...

 

[armstrong1988]

Sorry for your loss but move on... there is nothing you can do about it..