A two-week jury trial in Fort Myers, Florida has just begun on September 8th, 2015 regarding medical malpractice that resulted in the wrongful death of a child. When a woman took her 7-year old son to the emergency room, he was complaining of a persistently high fever, chronic neck pain, decreased appetite, and general loss of energy. Protocol orders – basic patient safety rules – require emergency staff to perform a complete differential diagnosis, and either treat or rule out the worst possible conditions first, including potential illness due to meningitis.
Rather than following protocol, the emergency room doctor and nurse practitioner failed to complete a proper diagnostic of any blood work. The boy was not treated as if he had a "viral syndrome" and he was not prescribed any antibiotics.
Only four days later, the young boy was admitted to a hospital in Fort Myers with suspected meningitis. Despite the best efforts of this second round of hospital staff, the boy developed a serious infection on his brain, causing massive damage to the sensitive organ. Ultimately, the boy was declared brain dead and his parents had to make the agonizing decision to remove him from life support.
What is Being Done About This Negligence?
Backed by the experienced legal counsel of Florida medical malpractice attorney David C. Rash, the woman has filed a lawsuit against the emergency room doctor and nurse practitioner. By showing that emergency work – such as blood work, spinal taps, IV antibiotics, and more – should have been initially performed the first time the boy was taken the hospital, Mr. Rash hopes to pursue a maximum settlement on behalf of his client. Additionally, the emotional trauma the woman had to go through when making the decision to remove her own child from life support calls for some form of compensation.
This egregious example of needless endangerment of a child and a patient is not something the Fort Myers community should condone. In the end, it will be up to the jury to find justice for the grieving mother.
If you would like to know more about this ongoing news story and trial – or if you have an injury case of your own that requires legal counsel – you can contact attorney David C. Rash at 954.914.7116 today.