Victims of Negligence » Medical Malpractice » Pulmonary Embolism

Pulmonary Embolism

Death from pulmonary embolism results from a cataclysmic blockage of the pulmonary artery by a blood clot, usually originating in the deep veins of the legs (thus called deep vein thrombosis or DVT). Such deaths are frequently preventable if the health-care professional recognizes the usual signs and symptoms in a high-risk patient. Definitive diagnostic and treatment protocols have been developed, which provide a framework against which physician's decisions are compared. An alarming number of recent cases have arisen when young women developed DVT and resulting pulmonary emboli because of the use of oral contraceptives. It is undisputed that birth control pills carry a small but clear risk for the development of DVTs.

Our attorneys have attained substantial jury verdicts and settlements resulting from deaths caused by pulmonary embolism. Recently, Spangenberg, Shibley & Liber attorneys reached a substantial seven-figure settlement during a trial involving the death of a 23-year-old law student who died from a pulmonary embolism. This patient, with a known history of taking oral contraceptives, was hospitalized due to difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, and productive cough with blood-tinged sputum. Although the attending physician diagnosed the patient as having pneumonia, the patient's failure to respond to antibiotic therapy and her family's concerns prompted the physician to order a VQ scan, which is a special lung X-ray designed specifically to look for pulmonary embolism.

The VQ scan was reported as "indeterminate" for the presence of pulmonary embolism. Medical practice guidelines clearly provide that an "indeterminate" VQ scan carries a risk of pulmonary embolism between 40-70%. Because of the risk of mortality with this condition, an "indeterminate" VQ scan mandates treatment with blood thinning drugs such as heparin, or having the patient undergo a pulmonary angiogram, the definitive diagnostic study. Despite this, the patient's physician merely arranged for the patient's discharge the next day. While in process of being discharged from the hospital, the patient collapsed and died.

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