ER Doctor Makes Fatal Mistake Resulting in Death of 12 Year Old
The following excerpt from a Notice of Intent to File Claim, or more commonly called, “Notice of Intent to Sue,” is a recent case that the litigators at Erlich, Rosen, Bartnick & Cook, P.C., have begun on behalf of one of our clients. If you wish to discuss a medical malpractice claim please contact ERBC at either www.ERBClaw.com or 1-877-453-2840 for a free consultation.
Factual Basis for Claim
Plaintiff, age 12, was a patient of a local pediatrician practice. On September 21, 2004 Plaintiff presented to the pediatric office with a four day history of sinus pain and a head cold. He was diagnosed with sinusitis and prescribed Amoxicillin for ten days.
Plaintiff completed his course of Amoxicillin but then developed a fever on or about October 6, 2004. He came back to his pediatricians on October 9, 2004 with a three day history of a high fever with shaking, loss of energy, sleeping a lot, localized telangiectasias on his right cheek, and positive headache in his forehead and temple areas. He was diagnosed with a viral infection.
Plaintiff was sent home without any antibiotics being prescribed with instructions to follow up if fever persists or new symptoms develop. Over the next several hours Plaintiff=s condition worsened and he became very sensitive to light. His mother went on the internet at 4:30 a.m. on Sunday October 10, 2004, and became alarmed when she saw that Plaintiff had several signs and symptoms of meningitis. According to phone records Plaintiff’s mother called the after-hours phone number for the Pediatricians at 4:51 a.m. on Sunday, October 10, 2004. She was given the number of the physician who was on call that morning, and her phone records indicate she called him at 4:53 a.m. and had a four minute conversation.
Plaintiff’s mother told him that Plaintiff had been in to see his pediatrician approximately 12 to 15 hours earlier and that his symptoms had worsened, and that he had many of the classic symptoms of meningitis, including sensitivity to light. The doctor assured plaintiff’s mother over the phone that Plaintiff was only dehydrated, and that she should bring him in to the Pediatric Clinic at the local Hospital when they opened up that Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
Upon arrival at the Pediatric Clinic Plaintiff was assessed and taken over to the Emergency Department. The ER physicians believed he had meningitis and performed a lumbar puncture shortly after 6:00 P.M. Plaintiff showed signs of deterioration within a few minutes of the lumbar puncture requiring intubation.
A CT scan was performed at approximately 6:30 p.m. which indicated massive brain edema and herniation. The CT scan done after the lumbar puncture showed that Plaintiff was not suffering from meningitis but rather had an infection present on the outside of his brain most likely from the sinus infection he had two weeks earlier. By performing the lumbar puncture the ER doctor released the pressure which was holding the infectious mass off the brain. By doing so the pressure from the infection pushed down on Plaintiffs brain and caused massive brain tissue death which was irreversible. Plaintiff remained in the intensive care unit until his death at 10:05 a.m. on October 11, 2004.
As a result of the ER physician failing to order a CT scan prior to performing a lumbar puncture he did not know that Plaintiff was suffering from an infection outside the brain and incorrectly diagnosed him with meningitis. Had the CT scan been done before a lumbar puncture was contemplated the ER physician would have known what the correct diagnosis was and would have known that a lumbar puncture in this scenario would be fatal. Plaintiff instead would have been treated with medication and would have been perfectly fine within a few days.
