Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
The following blog entry is written to illustrate an example of a medical malpractice case. Reviewing this kind of lawsuit should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court. It is worth noting that situations similar to those described in this medical malpractice case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the area, such as Kaiser Permanente, UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco General, California Pacific Medical Center, or St. Francis Memorial Hospital.
(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this personal injury case and its proceedings.)
TEXT:
2007 – Plaintiff, female age 45, had worked as a surgical nurse until 10 years ago when the first of her four boys was born. She intended to go back to nursing sometime after her youngest was in school. Beginning in mid-November 2007, Plaintiff went in to her local clinic complaining of an occasional fever of 102.5, general aches and fatigue. The nurse practitioner suspected influenza. Six days later, Plaintiff returned and told the nurse practitioner that her continuing symptoms were making it hard for her to care for her children. Although she did not have a fever at that time, the nurse practitioner suggested that Plaintiff might wish to get checked out at the local hospital, but that she could prescribe a Z-pak to see whether that would work. A Z-pak is a general spectrum of oral antibiotic. Plaintiff chose to try the Z-pak. The Z-pak seemed to temper Plaintiff’s symptoms over the next week, but then the symptoms reappeared along with other symptoms.
Plaintiff returned to the clinic, and this time, she reported a headache, muscle aches, fatigue, night sweats, chest tightening and an unproductive cough. She said that the night sweats were so bad that she was wrapping herself in towels to keep from soaking her bed. The doctor told her that she was likely pre-menopausal, despite the fact that she was still having regular periods. He also told her that overweight people often sweat at night. As to her feeling so fatigued, the doctor noted that after all, she had four active boys. He thought her headaches might be from migraines, and so he prescribed Maxalt.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.
He told her he was quite sure she did not have any infection as she did not have a fever at that time, and had just recently completed a course of antibiotics. Six days later, when Plaintiff saw no improvement, she went to the local hospital for a complete checkup. She and her family were planning to drive to Arizona for a Christmas break vacation, but they were not going until they were sure that she would be okay. In addition to scans and a spinal tap, blood tests were taken to look for any signs of infection. Based on the information available at that time, the Emergency Room doctor concluded that Plaintiff likely had a viral infection.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.