An 18 year-old girl wouldn't have died after two days in a hospital if staff has been more diligent in her care, per a lawsuit filed by her parents and reported by the South Bend Tribune.
While a patient in Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center, the teenager, A.A., died on July 17, 2010 allegedly due to the hospital staff's mistakes and oversights.
A.A.'s parents, B.A. and C.A., filed the suit for $1 million in damages. The sum is being sought from a state fund supported by health care providers for use in
malpractice claims.
The parents contend that their daughter, admitted on July 15 for sore throat, fever and dehydration, languished for two days in a hospital room receiving inadequate and incorrect care.
The suit states that a potentially lethal combination of drugs depressed A.A.'s respiratory system. The nursing staff is accused of failure to properly program a self-administering pain pump and responding too slowly when the teen was found unresponsive.
Upon admission to the hospital, A.A.'s airway was restricted and she was unable to swallow her saliva. The plan put forth by medical staff was to first hydrate their patient
and then to alleviate her pain with medication.
Within a 12 hour period of time three respiratory depressants - including morphine - were given to A.A. There were labels on each that warned that they were not to be used in combination.
According to the lawsuit their simultaneous usage could prove to be a dangerous one.
One of the drugs, Dilaudid, was in a self-administering pump for A.A. to use. "Great confusion" over how to program the pump caused a constant flow to be given to A.A. - instead of the dose her doctor had ordered, which was supposed to only be every 15 minutes.
Another doctor's order was also not followed: A.A.'s vital signs were supposed to be checked regularly.
Per the suit, six hours before her death records show that she was not processing enough oxygen - an oximetry reading was at 92 and going down. Other readings, due at 2 a.m., 4 a.m. and 6 a.m., were not taken.
At 6:20 a.m. a nurse checked on A.A. and found her unresponsive. More than twenty minutes later, at 6:41 a.m., her need for revival - a "code blue" - was called for.
She was pronounced dead at 7:44 a.m.
"after the staff's belated attempt to revive her."
The cause of death, ruled by the St. Joseph County Coroner, was a "disseminated viral infection" and deemed "natural."
C.A. stated, "I don't want this to happen to someone else. But no lawsuit and no amount of money will ever diminish the grief."
A settlement was reached with the hospital, according to court records, for $250,000.
Pete Agostino, the family's attorney, expects the lawsuit to be over by the end of this year.
Have you considered that you may have lost a loved one in a wrongful death scenario? Contact a personal injury lawyer today for help with a lawsuit!