If you have been reading our Chicago medical malpractice law blog for awhile now, you might be shocked by some of the mistakes medical professionals have made while they were supposed to be providing quality care to all of their patients.
Just last week, we mentioned a lawsuit that was recently filed by an Illinois woman whose cancer diagnosis was delayed because her doctor failed to accurately read her mammogram. Other doctors have given the wrong dose of a medication to a child or made surgical errors that caused patients to suffer serious or fatal injuries. In many of these instances, doctors either made the mistakes without ever noticing that they did something wrong, or they acknowledged that a mistake was made and attempted to correct their errors.
Sadly, one woman learned after her husband’s death that an error had been made during his surgery that caused him to suffer fatal injuries. The woman also learned that her husband’s doctor knew about the mistake that was made during surgery, but instead of fixing the mistake and informing the patient about the surgical error, the doctor did nothing.
Since learning the truth about the circumstances of her husband’s death, the woman has decided to file a medical malpractice lawsuit against the radiologist who perforated her husband’s spleen during a procedure in April 2010. Not only does she hope to hold the radiologist accountable for his negligence, she also hopes that the medical community will realize that harsher actions must be taken against doctors, nurses and surgeons when they knowingly fail to provide quality care to patients.
According to the lawsuit, the radiologist knew that he had perforated the patient’s spleen during an operation, but the doctor simply sent the man home without informing him about what had happened. Shortly after returning home, the patient sought treatment at a hospital because he began to experience complications. Three days later, he died.
The lawsuit argues that had the doctor fixed the mistake and made sure the patient was properly monitored after the surgery, the patient would not have suffered fatal injuries.
The radiologist was reprimanded for his actions. However, he is still allowed to practice in the state of Connecticut as long as he is monitored for one year by a licensed radiologist.
Source: newstimes.com, “Widow files lawsuit,” Susan Tuz, May 27, 2012
