Medical malpractice: Misdiagnoses may mean death in Pennsylvania

The death of a family member can hit surviving loved ones with feelings of devastation and loss. These feelings may be even more amplified if the death is of a young child that occurred due to mistakes made by other individuals. Medical errors may be at fault in many such cases, and as a result, families may have cause to file medical malpractice claims.

Pennsylvania residents may be interested in one family’s ordeal currently taking place out of state. Reports indicated that two years ago, the parents of a 10-year-old boy had taken him to his pediatrician where he was diagnosed with influenza. The parents then took the boy to the emergency room after he did not respond to treatments. The ER staff noted the boy’s symptoms, and he was later released.

Less than an hour after leaving the hospital, the boy went into respiratory arrest. Due to a lack of oxygen, he suffered brain damage and died the next day after being taken off life support. It was later determined that the boy had pneumonia and an infection that could have been treated if he had been properly diagnosed. As a result of the situation, the boy’s family has filed a lawsuit against the hospital, a doctor and a nurse.

As this tragic incident shows, misdiagnoses can have catastrophic outcomes. The family has every right to pursue their lawsuit as do Pennsylvania residents who have lost loved ones due to apparent medical errors. Medical malpractice claims could help those individuals seek compensation for their losses and other damages.

Source: englewoodherald.net, Kyle Harding, Dec. 22, 2016