People in North Carolina go to the emergency room with the expectation of a certain standard of care. While most patients accept that medical care providers are not miracle workers, they do expect that these workers will do everything reasonably expected to ensure their current and future well-being, including reporting medical problems to their physician. In a recent medical malpractice lawsuit, one man claims that a nurse‘s failure to act resulted in his permanent disability.
The 55-year-old man claims that after, having back surgery, he began experiencing severe pain in his back and leg. As a result, his wife rushed him to the emergency room, where he was admitted. Tests indicated that a blood clot had developed in his back.
In addition to causing incontinence, he says the blood clot prevented him from moving his legs. However, he asserts that his physician was not notified by nurses of his medical problems until the next day. Because of the delay in the notification, it was not possible to completely alleviate all the man’s symptoms. As a result, the man claims that he is now impotent and incontinent.
In a recent jury verdict in Alabama, the man was awarded $7.5 million. While the money will help him with current and future medical bills, he is hopeful that the jury’s award will also increase the quality of the healthcare provided by the hospital. Those people in North Carolina who become victims of medical malpractice also have the option of filing and litigating a civil suit. If they can prove negligence has impacted their health, they could receive an award of monetary damages to cover medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering, among other damages recognized under our medical malpractice laws.
Source: myfoxal.com, Jefferson Co. couple awarded $7.5 million in malpractice case, Melanie Posey, March 3, 2014