Failure to Treat Abdominal Pain Results in Death of Middle-aged Women

Wrongful Death Confidential Settlement

Mrs. T had a stomachache. But, unlike other stomachaches, this ache was so severe that Mrs. T went to the hospital. The ER doctor performed an initial assessment and determined that the most likely explanation for such extreme pain was a bowel obstruction. A bowel obstruction is a gastrointestinal condition in which food, fluids, and gas are prevented from moving through the intestines in a normal way. A bowel obstruction happens when something other than stool (if stool causes the blockage, then it is referred to as fecal impaction), like a tumor, scar tissue, inflammation, or twisting of the large or small intestine, causes an obstruction or a blockage.

With the bowel-obstruction diagnosis, Mrs. T was moved from the ER to a room in the hospital. However, the ER doctor failed to impress upon the attending physician who took over her care the seriousness and significance of Mrs. T’s condition. From there, things went from bad to worse.

While the attending physician documented that Mrs. T had signs of peritonitis (an inflammation of the membrane lining the abdominal wall and covering the abdominal organs), no treatment was provided. This inflammation is what caused the severe pain Mrs. T experienced. It was the reason she went to the ER in the first place. The doctor ignored the signs of peritonitis because Mrs.T did not “look sick” to him. The doctor also ignored the fact that Mrs. T’s blood pressure dropped significantly from the time she presented to the ER to the time she was admitted to the hospital.

Mrs. T paid the ultimate price for the physician’s inaction. She died from peritonitis two days after she arrived at the ER.

The Eisen Law Firm went after several physicians and the hospital, using to its advantage the medical adage, “the sun should never set on a bowel obstruction.” While there are exceptions to this rule, none of them applied to Mrs. T’s situation. She should have been operated on very shortly after her arrival to the hospital.

As The Eisen Law Firm was putting the finishing touches on its trial preparations, a seven-figure, confidential settlement was negotiated.