On July 8, 2015, the parents of a 45-year-old man who died from a heart attack in 2011 won their Connecticut medical malpractice case against their son’s primary care physician whom the jury found to have committed medical malpractice. The Connecticut medical malpractice jury deliberated for four and a half hours after a three-week trial before returning its verdict in the amount of $6 million, of which the defendant primary care physician will be responsible to pay $3 million (the defendant emergency room physician had previously settled the medical malpractice claim against him, thereby resulting in the 50% reduction in the jury’s verdict).
The man, who was disabled from a brain tumor suffered some years earlier, had gone to a hospital emergency room in 2011, complaining of symptoms consistent with a stroke. An EKG ordered in the emergency room revealed that the man had suffered two heart attacks in the past. The emergency room doctor ordered a neurological consult in light of the man’s symptoms but did not further assess the man’s cardiac issues.
The man was admitted to the hospital and was seen by his primary care physician the next day, who performed just a brief physical examination. Three days later, the primary care physician signed the man’s hospital discharge papers. Three days after that, the man suffered cardiac arrest. He was resuscitated but remained comatose until dying about three weeks later. It was discovered after the man suffered cardiac arrest that one of his coronary arteries was completely occluded, which should have been discovered and treated by implanting a stent at the time of his recent hospitalization, according to the medical malpractice lawsuit.
The Connecticut medical malpractice jury determined that the defendant primary care physician was 50% responsible because she had failed to read the EKG that had been taken at the hospital during the emergency room visit (the emergency room physician had interpreted the EKG taken in the hospital but failed to take appropriate actions in response to the cardiac issues that the EKG revealed).
According to the American Heart Association:
Health data compiled from more than 190 countries show heart disease remains the number one global cause of death, with 17.3 million deaths each year, which is expected to rise to more than 23.6 million by 2030:
– Heart disease has been the leading cause of death in the United States since 1921.
– Approximately 85.6 million people in the United States are living with cardiovascular disease, including heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure, and chest pain.
– 32.6% of adults in the United States (about 80 million) have high blood pressure.
– While the overall cardiovascular disease death rate dropped 30.8% from 2001 to 2011, the high blood pressure death rate increased by 13.2% over the same period of time.
If you or a loved one suffered serious harm due to the medical negligence of an emergency room physician in Connecticut or in another U.S. state, you should promptly find a Connecticut medical malpractice lawyer, or a medical malpractice lawyer in your state, who may investigate your medical malpractice claim for you and represent you in a medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
Visit our website to submit a short, secure form, or call us toll-free in the United States at 800-295-3959, to find medical malpractice attorneys in Connecticut or in your state who may assist you.
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