In mourning!

[statefan]

What is the name of your state? Tennessee
My mother recently passed away suddenly in North Carolina (June 1, 2005), she was relatively healthy, but suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure, which were both well under control by medications. Approximately a week and a half before her death, she went out of town for her sister's 70th birthday party and came back with a cold. Within a week, had extreme cough/cold symptoms, nausea and vomitting and ear pain. Went to her family doctor 2 times and a walk in clinic over the weekend. X-rays revealed no pneumonia, antibiotics prescribed along with cough and pain meds, sent home to rest. As the week progressed, she got worse. Tuesday, May 30th, she went back to her family doctor, blood pressure high and sugar out of wack, she was unable to take meds due to vomitting, was given a shot for vomitting and sent home to rest. The next morning she was found all alone, dead in her bathroom, she passed sometime early AM. Per the autopsy, cause of death was build up of fluid around heart, causing a major heart attack. (Since she could not take her medications, this fluid built up around her heart.)

On the day she was found, my aunt contacted my mother's internist (she was with my mom the day before at the same doctor), and he made a comment that still haunts me today, "I knew I should have put her in the hospital".

I know the world is full of what if's and if only, and I also know the pain is still as awful as its was 9 months ago. But I fully believe my mother would still be here today if she was put in the hospital and treated there.

My sister and I have talked about consulting an attorney, but I live out of state, and my time back home is limited to usually holidays and quick visits. I am looking for help outside of my box, looking for some insight as to whether seeking an attorney is even something I or we should consider. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance

 

[seniorjudge]

What is the name of your state? Tennessee
My mother recently passed away suddenly in North Carolina (June 1, 2005), she was relatively healthy, but suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure, which were both well under control by medications. Approximately a week and a half before her death, she went out of town for her sister's 70th birthday party and came back with a cold. Within a week, had extreme cough/cold symptoms, nausea and vomitting and ear pain. Went to her family doctor 2 times and a walk in clinic over the weekend. X-rays revealed no pneumonia, antibiotics prescribed along with cough and pain meds, sent home to rest. As the week progressed, she got worse. Tuesday, May 30th, she went back to her family doctor, blood pressure high and sugar out of wack, she was unable to take meds due to vomitting, was given a shot for vomitting and sent home to rest. The next morning she was found all alone, dead in her bathroom, she passed sometime early AM. Per the autopsy, cause of death was build up of fluid around heart, causing a major heart attack. (Since she could not take her medications, this fluid built up around her heart.)

On the day she was found, my aunt contacted my mother's internist (she was with my mom the day before at the same doctor), and he made a comment that still haunts me today, "I knew I should have put her in the hospital".

I know the world is full of what if's and if only, and I also know the pain is still as awful as its was 9 months ago. But I fully believe my mother would still be here today if she was put in the hospital and treated there.

My sister and I have talked about consulting an attorney, but I live out of state, and my time back home is limited to usually holidays and quick visits. I am looking for help outside of my box, looking for some insight as to whether seeking an attorney is even something I or we should consider. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance

Do you have any evidence of any malpractice?

You don't say how old she is, but you must realize that personal injury suits are based on money. A 70-year old person is just not worth that much in the courts due to the likelihood that there is no chance of earning much.

That, of course, is just an example and also one of many factors to be considered.

Consult a personal injury lawyer if it will make you feel better; it may be worth the time.

 

[statefan]

Sorry, she was 62 and very active. My father passed away in 2004 from a long illness, so after that, she became very active at church, she worked 40 plus hours weekly, and was out with her friends all the time!!

Thank you for the help!!

 

[ellencee]

If I reviewed this claim for an attorney, I would recommend a review of the records of this episode and the previous six months to a year of her primary physician's records. I would further recommend that the claimant pay all expenses for the review of these records as I do not anticipate a finding of medmal.

High blood pressure and diabetes cannot be separated from other healthcare issues, regardless of the patient's activities. High blood pressure and diabetes control the outcome of any illness.

I doubt the collection of fluid around the heart was an acute process. In the absence of physical trauma, fluid rarely acutely collects around the heart in amounts sufficient to cause a heart attack. Congestive heart failure can develop quickly and severely and lead to sudden death; but congestive heart failure is not fluid collected around the heart. CHF is fluid collecting in the lungs, which leads to the heart's being congested with blood it could not adequately eject.

The injection for nausea could have caused CHF in a person weakened by illness, if the injection was phenergan. Zofran would not have had the same possible outcome of CHF. We do not know which medication the patient received.

Contact a medmal attorney and discuss your concerns as you do not want the statute of limitations to expire if you have a viable claim. Wrongful death often has a statute of one year and this event occurred nine months ago.

EC

 

[statefan]

The injection was phenegran, my mother did have a condition where fluid was around her heart in the past, but the amounts were always controlled with Lasix (hence, she was not able to take the meds and the fluid built up around the heart). I am 100% positive it was not CHF, because an x-ray was taken the day before she passed away.

I know her health conditions add complex layers to the equation, that was one of the main reasons I was seeking advice here first. Since the statue of limitations is at a year, I think I will be making a trip to NC to at least talk with a lawyer. I also wanted to make sure I was doing it for the right reasons, beacuse I thought there would have been a different outcome if she had been admitted, not just because I was hurting my mother was no longer here!

Thanks so much for the advice, and leading me in a direction instead of debating back and forth.

 

[ellencee]

The injection was phenegran, my mother did have a condition where fluid was around her heart in the past, but the amounts were always controlled with Lasix (hence, she was not able to take the meds and the fluid built up around the heart). I am 100% positive it was not CHF, because an x-ray was taken the day before she passed away.

I know her health conditions add complex layers to the equation, that was one of the main reasons I was seeking advice here first. Since the statue of limitations is at a year, I think I will be making a trip to NC to at least talk with a lawyer. I also wanted to make sure I was doing it for the right reasons, beacuse I thought there would have been a different outcome if she had been admitted, not just because I was hurting my mother was no longer here!

Thanks so much for the advice, and leading me in a direction instead of debating back and forth.

What do you mean she wasn't able to take her meds? Surely, she did not stop taking any of her routine medications such as Lasix; did she?

The history of having fluid around her heart may be of importance in evaluating whether or not she should have been admitted to the hospital. It may have been prudent to admit her for 23 hour observation, check out her lungs and heart, get rid of excess fluid, etc.

You may want to make a few phone calls before you head out for North Carolina. Attorneys will not usually represent against a hospital in their county and sometimes not in a neighboring county.

EC

 

[statefan]

That's the problem, she could NOT take her medications, even after the Phenegran injection. She was throwing up everything she ingested. That is why I feel she should have been admitted to the hospital. Once an IV was started, all, or at least most medications can be administered through the IV. The doctor knew she was not taking her medications!

So this has nothing to do with a hospital, only an internist, who has treated my whole family over the past 25 years!

I have decided to make a few phone calls over the next week to see what I might find out.