When a child becomes severely ill or suffers from a chronic medical condition, it is only natural that a parent may worry about his or her child’s health. However, parents also understand that medical professionals have a responsibility to properly diagnose and treat each patient to the best of their abilities.
One Illinois family who trusted the advice of several doctors is now suing three Chicago-area hospitals claiming that the wrongful death of their son was caused by a series of mistakes made by medical professionals.
On Sept. 13, 2010, the family’s 7-year-old son suffered a serious asthma attack. The boy’s mother said that the child was immediately taken to Franciscan St. James Hospital in Olympia Fields, located near their home. However, medical professionals suggested transferring the boy to Franciscan St. James in Chicago Heights due to a lack of proper medical equipment to treat the child.
The family followed the advice of medical professionals and agreed to have their son taken by ambulance to the hospital in Chicago Heights. The boy remained at that hospital for nearly eight hours when doctors advised the family to take their son to a pediatric intensive care unit instead. The boy’s mother once again followed the doctors’ advice.
Unfortunately, her son died on the way to St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet. The mother had not been informed by medical professionals that the hospital was nearly 30 miles away.
After questioning the delay in treatment and the advice of several medical professionals to transfer the boy, the family is now seeking damages for their tragic loss.
The boy’s family claims that they should have been informed about the long distance between the hospitals. “Why they didn’t put a doctor in that ambulance with him, or an anesthesiologist or someone who would manage his condition during that long transfer, we don’t know,” said the family’s lawyer. It is also uncertain why medical professionals at Franciscan St. James in Chicago Heights failed to suggest taking the boy to a closer hospital where he could receive proper treatment
Source: Chicago Sun-Times, “Family sues, asks why asthmatic boy sent to 3 hospitals in 11 hours,” Natasha Korecki, Sept. 25, 2011
