$29 Million Verdict For Missed Aortic Aneurysm: Following a two-week trial in the Essex Superior Court in Newburyport, Massachusetts, a Massachusetts medical malpractice jury awarded the estate of a 48-year-old man and his two daughters, ages 12 and 18 at the time of his death, $29 million for the man’s undiagnosed and untreated aortic aneurysm that led to his death.
Joseph Brown, Jr. went to the emergency room of Salem Hospital on January 13, 2018, complaining of moderately intense chest pain with shortness of breath along with an occasional cough, upper and lower back pain, muscle and body aches, and one episode of nausea and vomiting.
The medical malpractice wrongful death lawsuit alleged that Dr. Steven Browell, an emergency medicine physician, “failed to timely recognize and appreciate the clinical symptoms of an aortic aneurysm, offer, order and/or perform a STAT chest CT, CTA and/or MRA to rule out an aortic aneurysm, (and) recognize and appreciate that Mr. Brown’s signs and symptoms and diagnostic testing required emergent cardiothoracic surgery consultation.” The lawsuit further alleged that had Dr. Boswell “provided care within the accepted standard of care,” the aortic aneurysm would’ve been “diagnosed approximately 20 hours earlier, he would have undergone emergent surgical intervention and, more likely than not, Mr. Brown would not have suffered a premature and preventable death.”
The Massachusetts medical malpractice wrongful death lawsuit alleged similar claims against Dr. William Kenyon, except that Dr. Kenyon should have diagnosed Mr. Brown’s aortic aneurysm “approximately 15 hours earlier.”
Dr. Kenyon argued that Mr. Brown’s presentation in the emergency room “was not typical for aortic dissection, which is a rare condition” that is mostly seen in people 65 years or older: an aortic dissection “typically presents as searing chest pain, often described by a patient as ‘the worst pain in my life,’ and a tearing sensation, with unstable vital signs or pain radiating to the back.” Furthermore, Dr. Kenyon argued that the x-ray of Mr. Brown’s chest did not “demonstrate widening of the mediastinum,” an EKG “did not suggest aortic dissection,” and “the patient had a history of a foot puncture.”
Dr. Kenyon concluded: “The standard of care did not call for (Kenyon) to order an ultrasound, CT, CTA, MRI, or MRA to rule out expanding aortic aneurysm or aortic dissection. The standard of care did not require Dr. Kenyon to order or obtain a bedside cardiology consult or cardiothoracic surgery consultation as Mr. Brown was hemodynamically stable (blood was flowing) during his care.”
The Massachusetts medical malpractice jury’s award included $1 million for Mr. Brown’s pain and suffering; $9.5 million to each of his two daughters, a portion of which is to be paid in lump sum and the balance over a period of years; and, $9 million for interest.
If you or a loved one may have been injured (or worse) as a result of medical negligence in Massachusetts or in another U.S. state, you should promptly find a Massachusetts medical malpractice attorney, or a medical malpractice attorney in your state, who may investigate your medical malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
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