Patient Bled to Death While Doctor Operated Reports Cleveland Medical Malpractice Lawyer
Jan 27, 2012
Cleveland, OH (Law Firm Newswire) January 26, 2012 – Patients expect doctors to know what they are doing. That did not happen in this case.
“I have seen and heard a lot of things over the number of years that I have been practicing law,” remarked Christopher Mellino. Mellino is a Cleveland medical malpractice lawyer and wrongful death lawyer of The Mellino Law Firm LLC in Ohio. “But this case is just astoundingly awful.”
It happened in Ohio, in Frederick County. A local resident went in for heart surgery, expecting to be just fine when it was over and done. But he never came home. The family chose to file a wrongful death, medical malpractice lawsuit against the Cleveland doctor, who was licensed to practice medicine in Virginia when the surgery took place and when the plaintiff died. The plaintiffs were seeking compensation in the amount of $2 million to be divided among the three surviving sons.
The father had a left heart catheterization in June and as a consequence of the results, decided to have elective surgery for a coronary artery bypass grafting. The lawsuit stated that as a direct result of the cardiac catheterization procedure, the man sustained an injury to his right femoral artery. This caused a retroperioneal hemorrhage that the doctor did not diagnose and repair.
In fact, nothing was done about the issue even as the surgery was underway. This was in spite of the fact the patient’s hemocrit and hemoglobin levels were dropping; levels that were low even prior to surgery. These low levels were red flags that the doctor did nothing about. As a result of this failure to diagnose the right femoral artery injury, the plaintiff lost a large volume of blood.
“The shocking thing in this case is that the surgery proceeded even with the plaintiff’s low blood levels, and on top of that he was given a blood thinner, which caused him to bleed even more. The increase in bleeding caused the patient’s death,” Mellino pointed out.
Medical negligence? “Yes, the doctor demonstrated negligence when he paid no attention to the patient’s dropping hemoglobin and hematocrit, which were clear signs of bleeding,” indicated Mellino. “Additionally, there was no repeat test ordered, which would have shown the blood loss. The doctor should have pulled out all the stops to find the source of the bleeding and stop it.”
When things like this happen, many families go into shock and struggle with what they need to do next. Their first phone call needs to be to a skilled Cleveland medical malpractice lawyer to discuss the details of the case and what they may expect further down the road when they file a medical negligence lawsuit.
To learn more or to contact a Cleveland Medical Malpractice attorney or Cleveland malpractice attorney, visit http://www.christophermellino.com.
Mellino Law Firm LLC
200 Public Sq., Suite 2900
Cleveland, Ohio 44114
Call: (216) 241-1901
