My girlfriends father had been experiencing some problems, to which they thought seeing someone at a cardiac hospital would be appropriate. So, this Monday they went and explained to the doctor his symptoms: shortness of breath, fatigued after merely walking short distances around the house, dizzyness, lightheadedness, general discomfort. He also admitted to the doctor that he had stopped taking his medication prescribed for irregular heartbeat a while back. The doctor himself also determined that his resting heartbeat was 130bpm and that he had swelling in his ankles. The doctor then gave a prescription for the previousl medication, and sent him on his way, with a follow up appointment for another day.
He died of Congestive Heart Failure at 1:30AM on Tuesday at home.
Upon relaying the news to my mother (a nurse of 30 years), she immediately could not understand why he was not immediately admitted to the ER, siting that besides the fact that every symptom he was experiencing was a blatant sign of CHF, the extreme resting heartrate should have been enough to warrant an immediate admittance to the hospital for monitoring, especially given his well documented past heart issues.
We began asking everyone we could think of that had medical backgrounds: "What do these symptoms mean, and what should one do about it?", whilst siting the symptoms. Every person, without hesitation, answered in the same general manner: Congestive Heart Failure, go to the ER immediately!
Along with the same prognosis, they all concurred that any competent person with a medical background should have seen CHF coming a mile away, and failing to do so is complete negligence.
Now, obviously, we've have already had several people of medical backgrounds agree in the negligence factor of our situation, but being that this is a major undertaking that we are considered, I do feel that having as much confirmation as possible that we are acting justifiably in the matter will be a good thing for us. Also, though they are medically educated people, none were lawyers, so I also would like to know, from a legal standpoint, if even have a leg to stand on.
Please, what should we do? Should we trust the bad taste that has been left in our mouths with this whole ordeal and try for vindication?
Thank you in advance for any and all help.
healthminded
You already know the answer. The family needs to contact lawyers dealing in medical malpractice. Your mom who is an RN already knows this, and everyone else has told you, so, why trust those here on yahoo over the ones who are with you and telling you?
Please, contact a lawyer and they will be able to tell the family what their rights are. They should totally pursue this! So sorry for the loss of this man.
Orignal From: Tips: Need help as to whether or not to file a lawsuit for medical negligence leading to death!?
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