|
|
October 2007 Legal Case Study |
|
| Failure to Give Family Proper Instructions Regarding TPN Therapy Administration - Potassium Chloride Administered Into Catheter - $10.5 Million Settlement. | |
The plaintiff, age twenty-three, was receiving TPN therapy at home under the guidance of the defendant healthcare providers. The plaintiff’s treatment required the administration of potassium chloride through an intravenous catheter placed in her arm. Prior to administration of the medication the catheter line was to be cleaned with a saline solution. The nurse was unable to demonstrate the cleaning procedure during her instruction because the medication regimen had already been initiated at the time the potassium chloride syringes were delivered to the plaintiff’s home.Later that evening, the plaintiff’s mother inadvertently mistook the potassium chloride syringe for the saline solution and directly administered the medication into the plaintiff’s catheter. The medication caused her to immediately go into cardiac arrest and suffer severe brain hypoxia. The plaintiff’s sister was present at the time of the incident and her father arrived shortly thereafter. All of the family members attempted to resuscitate the woman. The plaintiff suffered brain damage which left her unable to provide basic care for her self. The plaintiff claimed that the defendant’s employees failed to provide adequate instructions for the potentially lethal medication. According to a reporter, a $10.5 million settlement was reached. This included $1 million for the sister and parents for emotional distress. With permission from Medical Malpractice Verdicts, Settlements & Experts; Lewis Laska, Editor, 901 Church St., Nashville, TN 37203-3411, 1-800-298-6288. |
Search the Archives
Recently Posted Legal Case Studies
| DESCRIPTION | |
|---|---|
| Failure to Hospitalize Woman Pregnant With Twins and Reporting Pain Thought to be Labor at Twenty-Eight Weeks Gestation - Fully Dilated by Time of Arrival at Hospital - One Twin Suffers Intraventricular Bleeding Due to Prematurity - $2.2 Million Sett | |
| Failure to Properly: Diagnose and Treat Asthmaticus, Intubate Patient, Properly Sedate Patient, Administer Oxygen, Administer Correct Amounts of Medication, Follow Hospital's Protocols and Standards of Care - Death - $3,500,000 Verdict. | |
| Failure to Remove Sponge During Cesarean Section and Failure to Refer to Other Physicians When Complaints Are Made $375,000 Total Recovery. | |
| Failure to Timely Respond to Respiratory Distress Blamed for Death - $2.2 Million Verdict Set Aside on Motion JNOV. | |
| Failure to Diagnose Volvulus and Obtain Surgical Consult Blamed for Death From Bleeding Following Laparotomy - Defense Verdict. | |
| Woman Suffers Blood Pressure Spike After Administration of Narcan - Failure to Promptly Summon Physician - Brain Damage and Death - $675,000 Verdict. | |
| Failure to Provide Proper Antibiotic for Abdominal Infection and Failure to Properly Monitor Oxygenation - Hypoxic Brain Damage Causes Need for Twenty-Four Hour Care - $7 Million in Settlements With Some Defendants. | |
| Failure to Properly Monitor Man on Dilaudid From PCA Pump - Death - $500,000 Verdict. | |
| Lungs Collapse Following Injection for Chronic Back Pain - $325,000 Settlement and $1.1 Million Verdict. | |
| Failure to Give Family Proper Instructions Regarding TPN Therapy Administration - Potassium Chloride Administered Into Catheter - $10.5 Million Settlement. | |
| Man Diagnosed With Acid Reflux Dies From Heart Disease Twelve Days Later After Wife Called Hospital Back With Report of Nausea - Nurse Recommended Mylanta - $1.9 Million Gross Verdict | |
| Air Embolus From Improper Removal of IV Line Blamed for Stroke - $3.8 Million Verdict Followed by Confidential Settlement. |
