Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
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 San Jose area, such as Kaiser Permanente, Regional Medical Center, Good Samaritan Hospital, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, or O’Connor 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 lawsuit and its proceedings.)
Immediately after injection, Serreno developed difficulty breathing, had a stroke and was then intubated. The central line was then placed on a pressure transducer, which indicated that it was arterially placed. The central line was then discontinued, and an MRI revealed that Serreno had a serious brain injury.
Serreno sued the County, which controlled ABC Regional and its county employees, accusing Emmerson of medical malpractice, specifically negligent injection.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.
Serreno claimed that Emmerson was negligent in placing the central line in an artery instead of a vein, in not redoing the line after an X-ray confirmed likely arterial placement and in administering Phenergan, a particularly dangerous drug, without being sure the central line was in a vein instead of an artery. He further claimed that there were no orders from Emmerson, or anyone else, in the medical chart requesting any blood gas, or documenting that blood gas had been drawn for the purpose of determining where the line was inserted.
Serreno contended that the injection of Phenergan was the obvious cause of his stroke, due to its known dangers, and that the FDA specifically prohibits its arterial administration. Serreno’s expert neurologist claimed that diabetes was not the cause of the stroke, since Serreno was only diagnosed with a mild variety of Type II diabetes just a week before hospitalization, and because diabetes-related strokes have a different presentation than the one Serreno experienced.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.