• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Hospital Standard Of Care

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

Lilbitty

Junior Member
What is the name of your state?VA

My Mom past away Dec 2nd from pneumonia at 63. She had gone to a hospital ER close to her home on Nov 23, she was diagnosed with a throat infection, told to gargle with salt water and sent home. In the days following the ER visit her health steadily declined. She had planned to make the 2 hour trip to my home for Thanksgiving with my Brother and I encouraged her to do so even though I knew she wasn't up to it. I did so that I could hopefully nurse her back to health and also so that she would be closer to a more reputable hospital. She made the trip. On the morning of the Nov 27th she was barely able to breath, the congestion was so bad, she was rushed to the hospital by ambulance. As noted in the beginning of my post, she past away on the 2nd. My question, was the hospital that she first went to negligent in their misdiagnosis? Apparently chest xrays/scans were done, shouldn't they have seen the fluid in her lungs?

Any replies/guidance will be appreciated!
 


rmet4nzkx

Senior Member
I'm sorry for your loss.

I am posting your previous post re your mother:
Lilbitty said:
What is the name of your state?CA
My Mother was awarded bi-weekly paymts from workers comp in DEC 2001, because she had fallen @ work and was permanently disabled. Her attorney had told her she was getting a lump sum award, but the settlement award documents she signed was bi-weekly payments until death . I live in VA and at the time none of my others siblings in CA went to court with her when the docs were signed, she trusted her attorney. My mother past away last week :( and I notified workers comp so the payments would stop. My mom owned her home and has other debts that will need to be paid. Is there any way that the payments can continue otherwise I'll have to sell her home. Can her surviving children receive the remaining balance of the award?
Since your mother traveled to have thanksgiving with you I take it she traveled from CA to VA, how did she travel?
What did the report from the Xray say?
What is the nature of her disability?
Chronic health conditions?
Smoking?
What did the autopsy say?
What did the doctors say who treated her in VA?
Has the WC award been settled?
Answers to these quesitons may help in providing advice.
 

ellencee

Senior Member
I can hear this conversation--
Mom are you coming to my house for Thanksgiving?
No, I'm sick. I went to the ER and they said I have a throat infection. I'm not feeling well enough to travel. I think I need to go back to the doctor.
No, Mom--it's Thanksgiving. Don't go to the doctor. Exhaust yourself coming to my house for Thanksgiving and I'll take care of you. If you get worse, I'll take you to a doctor or hospital that has no knowledge of your health and doesn't have your records/films/labs from your ER visit. That way, you won't miss Thanksgiving with ME.
OK, dear, I'll come to your house if Uncle Bert can drive me.
Great!

Mom dies, but by george, she made it to Thanksgiving dinner. Now, who can you sue...hmmm, let me think about this...

EC
 

Lilbitty

Junior Member
Ellencee, I can see that you are a truly compassionate person. For your information my Mom did not want to return to the same ER. This particular hospital (in SW VA) is well known for it's poor disagnosis. It was her choice to make the 2 hour ride as planned with by brother (not uncle) so that if her illness did get worse she knew she would receive better treatment/diagnosis from a major city in VA. We are not interested in a possible lawsuit for money, but feel it is time for this hospital to be accountable for it's incompetence and hopefully to make it a better medical facility so that others are not subjected to what my Mother went through.
 

Lilbitty

Junior Member
rmet4nzkx,

Answers to your questions:


Since your mother traveled to have thanksgiving with you I take it she traveled from CA to VA, how did she travel? She moved from CA in Dec 2002 to VA.
What did the report from the Xray say? We have not reviewed the xrays from the ER she first visited.
What is the nature of her disability? she fell and hurt her hip at work.
Chronic health conditions?COPD
Smoking?yes
What did the autopsy say?no autopsy, cause of death on cert: pneumonia, hypoxia
underlining conditions: COPD, exasperbation
What did the doctors say who treated her in VA?which doctors?
Has the WC award been settled? WC was awarded (STIP) in Dec 2002 in CA.

Thanks!
 

rmet4nzkx

Senior Member
I asked the questions I asked for a reason, and not surprised by the answers. I pretty much agree with Ellen BTW.

You mother was disabled, and already dying from COPD. Was she under the care of a physician in her new community or is that why she went to the ER? If they took Xrays those reports are available and the hospital in your area could have requested them. Any number of things may have exacerbated the COPD including the 2 hour trip. You could have insisted she see a doctor when she arrived or the day after Thanksgiving if she was so ill. If she was continuing to smoke, surly that didn't help either. Your mother's unwillingness to follow doctor's orders or to even see a doctor contributed to what happened. There is no way to determine if the first ER was negligent, however, COPD patients are often sent home as hospitalization maks little difference in their care especially the ones who smoke. I don't see that you would have a viable medmal case or even a viable complaint to the medical board.
 

purple2

Member
Before even thinking about a lawsuit, why not file a complaint or write a letter outlining your concerns to the hospital directly? I think that's where you should start--at least hear their viewpoint. If your mom was survived by a spouse, you will need the spouse's written permission for the hospital to discuss her case with you--check w/the hospital to find out how to document the permission.
 

ellencee

Senior Member
Lilbitty
More likely than not, there is no valid claim of negligence or malpractice in any way, shape, form, or fashion.
The first challenge would be to prove that but for an act(s) of negligence, the advanced COPD patient would not have died from developing pneumonia related to the unresolved throat infection. This is not an easy challenge to meet; in fact, I don't believe it can be done.

The defense would probably assert that the patient contributed to her own demise by failing to follow-up on a known infectious process, by exhausting herself on a car-trip to visit relatives for Thanksgiving, not seeking medical treatment during the four-day interval as her condition worsened and that when she did seek medical care, there was no hope of recovery. This would be a fairly easy defense to substantiate.

The poster is not exhibiting an open mind but rather seeking only one answer and the answer's being that the first hospital caused her mother's death. Those of us with experience know that it isn't going to happen because we know the requirements for a medmal lawsuit and recognize that the elements are not present.

I recognize unresolved grief and the stages of grief--the poster has demonstrated the first three stages of grief: disbelief, anger, seeking to blame others...two stages remain.

In her grief, she obviously expects some good-hearted attorney to pay $25-$35,000 of his or her own money to litigate this lawsuit to victory on principle and to not collect any award of damages:
We are not interested in a possible lawsuit for money, but feel it is time for this hospital to be accountable for it's incompetence and hopefully to make it a better medical facility so that others are not subjected to what my Mother went through
The sad truth is that people with COPD will continue to ignore throat infections and will continue to develop pneumonia because of the failure to properly manage the throat infection and will continue to take outrageous risks with their health to be with family and friends on special occasions and they will die as a result of their actions.

Equally as sad, the surviving family members will continue to seek to harm healthcare providers in the hope of winning some victory, whether monetarily or emotionally, as if this victory will absolve their loved ones and themselves from any responsibilty for the outcome.

EC
 
Last edited:

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top