Legal Pearl: Patient Incorrectly Diagnosed Dies From Pneumonia

The Case

A lawsuit was filed on behalf of the patient’s child against the PCP, the hospital emergency department, and emergency department physicians. The hospital and its physicians settled out of court prior to the trial, and the trial proceeded only against the PCP. Although lawyers for the defense maintained the treatment of the patient was within the proper standard of care, experts faulted the physician for not getting the hospital records, doing a proper lung examination, and failing to obtain a blood glucose level. Evidence showed that it would have been medically impossible for the patient’s lungs to be clear when he saw the physician, given the volume of fluid present in his lungs at the time of death the next day.

The Bottom Line

The patient “did everything he possibly could have to save his own life," attorneys stated in the lawsuit. "Even an immunocompromised diabetic at 29 years old should not die from pneumonia after receiving medical treatment twice in the 4 days before his death."

The California jury agreed and ordered the physician to pay $2.6 million to the patient’s child.

Reference:

City new service. Doctor ordered to pay $2.6 million to son of man who died of pneumonia. LA Local News. October 14, 2022. Accessed November 21, 2022. https://kfiam640.iheart.com/featured/la-local-news/content/2022-10-14-doctor-ordered-to-pay-26-million-to-son-of-man-who-died-of-pneumonia/