Earlier this year, a Maine medical malpractice jury returned its verdict against a local hospital and in favor of a 25-year-old man whose Lyme disease was not timely diagnosed or treated, leading to Lyme carditis and to his death eight days after his Lyme disease was finally diagnosed.

The man had gone to the hospital with complaints of a spreading rash, recent headache, dizziness, chills, and a fever. The physician who treated him in the emergency room observed a lesion on the man’s thigh that was described as slightly target-shaped, as well as 10 to 20 other lesions that had subsequently developed. The emergency room physician’s diagnosis was erythema multiforme and a viral illness. The man was sent home.

The man returned to the same emergency room two weeks later with the same complaints. The diagnosis at that time was erythema multiforme as well as hives. Once again, the man was discharged to home.

Five days later, the man was brought by ambulance to another hospital, where he was diagnosed with Lyme disease and Lyme carditis. Eight days later, the man died as a result of Lyme carditis.

The man’s parents filed a Maine medical malpractice wrongful death action on behalf of his estate, alleging that their son’s symptoms were suspicious for Lyme disease during his initial visit to the emergency room. They alleged that had their adult son received the proper and timely diagnosis of Lyme disease, proper and timely treatment for Lyme disease would had prevented his death from Lyme carditis. The Maine Lyme disease medical malpractice lawsuit did not seek medical expenses but did claim lost earnings in the approximate amount of $3.3 million.

Lyme Carditis

According to the CDC, Lyme carditis occurs when Lyme disease bacteria enter the tissues of the heart. This can interfere with the normal movement of electrical signals from the heart’s upper to lower chambers, a process that coordinates the beating of the heart. The result is “heart block,” which can vary in degree and change rapidly.  Lyme carditis occurs in approximately one out of every one hundred Lyme disease cases reported to the CDC.

Lyme carditis can cause light-headedness, fainting, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, or chest pain. Patients with Lyme carditis usually have other symptoms such as fever and body aches, and they may have more specific symptoms of Lyme disease, such as the erythema migrans rash.

Lyme carditis can either be treated with oral or intravenous (IV) antibiotics, depending on severity. Some patients might need a temporary pacemaker. Patients generally recover within 1-6 weeks. Between 1985 and 2019, eleven cases of fatal Lyme carditis were reported worldwide.

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If you or a loved one suffered harm as a result of the misdiagnosis of Lyme disease in the United States, you should promptly find a Lyme disease lawyer in your state who may investigate your Lyme disease claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a Lyme disease malpractice case, if appropriate.

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