Alleged Misdiagnosis of Genetic Disorder Affects Family in Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
Oct 25, 2011
Manchester, NH (Law Firm Newswire) October 24, 2011 – Medical malpractice has been responsible for some real ghastly errors. This one involves alleged misdiagnosis and a rampant infection.
“You have to shake your head in despair when you read about cases like this one,” said Manchester personal injury lawyer Charlie Donahue. “What on earth were the doctors in this situation thinking? And was the diagnosis an error?”
This reported case deals with a medical malpractice lawsuit where two physicians are blamed for misdiagnosing a young boy with an ankle injury. It sounds like it would be a straightforward diagnosis, but this injury turned into a raging infection, and the boy lost both feet, his right hand and three fingers on his left hand. “Talk about a life altering event for this young boy and his family,” Donahue commented. The boy has extreme difficulty getting dressed in the morning and needs to be in a climate-controlled area at school.
“What happened that an ankle injury turned into amputating both feet, a hand and three fingers?” asked Donahue. “The trial documents show that when the boy was nine years old, he was playing soccer and got nailed in a scrimmage by a random, but hard kick on the ankle. That kick triggered a bacterial infection that spread throughout his body.”
His family chose to file a personal injury suit, mainly because they were hoping to obtain enough money to ensure their son would get the proper care that he would need for the rest of his life. At trial, the plaintiff suggested the doctors should have spotted the signs of infection when the boy was kicked. The defense countered that the two doctors named in the lawsuit made the best diagnosis they could at that time based on what information they had available to them.
“As it turns out, the boy had an existing genetic disorder, and that it exacerbated the infection,” Donahue remarked. “The disorder was not pin-pointed until after the amputations. And the end result in this case? Neither of the two doctors was found to be negligent. There is a great deal of value in this case as a lesson to all those who sue for medical malpractice and even for lawyers – sometimes things are not what they seem to be on the surface.”
To learn more about New Hampshire personal injury attorney, Charlie Donahue, visit http://www.donahuelawfirm.com.
Donahue Law Firm
143 West St.
Keene, NH 03431
Call: (603) 357-2363
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