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.)
INJURIES: Serreno experienced a right watershed infarct in his brain with a distribution involving the middle cerebral artery and left parietal, resulting in hemiplegia. The condition resulted in left-side bodily weakness and permanent left-side brain damage.
Facts:
On March 21, 2009, plaintiff, Bob Serreno, 33, an unemployed security guard, went to ABC Regional Medical Center in Sacramento with complaints of abdominal pain. He was admitted into the intensive care unit after being diagnosed with diabetic ketoacidosis. After having two different IVs inserted in his arm, a nurse paged first-year resident John Emmerson to place a central venous catheter in Serreno. Emmerson responded roughly one hour and 45 minutes later, and attempted to insert the central line. Emmerson was unable to do so, and opted to place the line in Serreno’s internal jugular vein, and believed he succeeded after checking for pulsatility and the color of the blood in the line.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.
Emmerson ordered an X-ray to confirm placement, however, the radiologist’s report stated that the central line was likely placed in Serreno’s artery and not his vein. Emmerson checked again for pulsatility and allegedly ordered blood to be drawn from the central line for the purpose of a blood gas reading. Emmerson claimed that an unknown nurse or respiratory therapist confirmed that the blood gas results were venous, although he did not review the lab results personally. Emmerson, after consulting with another attending physician, decided to administer the medication Phenergan intravenously through the central line.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.