Delay in Diagnosis of Meningitis – Hearing Loss and Movement Disorder in Toddler – Confidential Settlement

Our Ohio Medical Malpractice Case: Facts

Jake was two years old when a misdiagnosis caused him to lose his hearing and impaired his ability to walk. Jake had a fever for several days. Jake’s mother took him to the pediatrician but was told that Jake just had a cold. Over the course of several days, Jake’s mother continued to call the pediatrician because Jake just wasn’t getting better. In addition to his fever, Jake became lethargic, sleeping most of the day. His mom had to wake him up to feed him, and then Jake would go right back to sleep. Still, Jake’s pediatrician did nothing, telling Jake’s mom just to give him more Children’s Tylenol. Jake’s mother didn’t give up. She took Jake to the emergency room, where a nurse documented that he no longer seemed to recognize his parents. But, the ER doctor did nothing, essentially assuming Jake had the flu or some other relatively harmless “bug.”

But Jake had pneumococcal meningitis, a potentially lethal bacterial infection of the membrane covering the brain. As the infection got worse, Jake’s brain swelled, and he began to have what doctors call a “change in mental status.” In Jake’s case, this change was manifested by excessive sleepiness and then by an inability to recognize his parents. But no health care professional seemed to notice.

Bacterial meningitis is treatable, but time is of the essence, as the bacteria can multiply very, very quickly. Had someone really listened to Jake’s mother and paid close attention, Jake could have received antibiotics that would have knocked out the infection and prevented the very serious injuries he suffered.

Our Ohio Medical Negligence Case: Discovery and Settlement

The Eisen Law Firm filed suit on Jake’s behalf and litigated the case for more than a year. The defense maintained from the beginning that neither the pediatrician nor the emergency medicine doctor did anything wrong, and they hired a well-known infectious disease expert to argue that nothing could have prevented Jake’s injuries. The Eisen Law Firm had tangled with this particular expert before and knew his weaknesses. After collecting dozens of prior deposition transcripts of this expert witness from around the country, The Eisen Law Firm forced the expert to make several very useful concessions under oath, essentially gutting the defense case. The case ended in a confidential settlement just before trial was set to begin.