In Estate of Michael Hamilton v. Excel Emergency Care LLC, et al., No. 07 L 006654, the jury returned a $3.76 million verdict in favor of the plaintiff. The plaintiff’s father died of an aortic dissection—after being diagnosed of abdominal pain, and an emergency room doctor sent him home after it being resolved. A supervisor at a paint factory, he was sent to St. James Hospital emergency room in Chicago Heights after his co-workers reported his severe chest pains and was treated by Dr. Jose Almeida.
The deceased’s chest pains started while he was working at Behr Process Corp. and he was even seen lying down in severe pain, sweating profusely, crying and dizzy. The pain started in his chest and then went to his back.
The way his pain occurred is a classic example of aortic dissection–moving pain, from his chest, to the stomach and then into his back. Aortic dissection involves bleeding along the wall of the aorta, and bleeding into this major artery, which carries blood out of the heart. One attorney described it, “[i]f you picture a garden hose, it’s the inner layer of the outer wall [of the aorta] that’s tearing … and once it bursts, then it’s sudden death.” The most pain is the initial tearing and then the pain can stabilize for a while, days or weeks, but it does eventually kill the individual. He also stated that if you get to it before the aorta bursts—the patient can be saved.
Plaintiff’s counsel argued that the doctor should have asked the patient how he experienced his pain instead of focusing on the type of pain he was experiencing when he finally entered the emergency room. Dr. Almeida did not take an adequate history. The location of the pain, the character of the pain, the symptoms or the severity of the pain should have put the doctor on notice that he was suffering an aortic dissection. A CT scan and surgery would have saved his life. But instead, he was sent home, told to drink liquids, rest and follow up with a doctor. He died six days later. The defense attorneys argued that the doctor treated him with the patient based on his symptoms and told him to follow up with a doctor in twenty-four hours. The jury found in favor on the plaintiff.
Speak Your Mind