Imagine that you or your loved one are admitted in a hospital for a routine procedure. The routine procedure turns out to be successful and your loved one is recuperating, showing full signs of recovery. Then suddenly – a massive heart attack followed by heart failure. This heart failure is usually the result of an undiagnosed condition that is often ignored or overlooked in an operation, a pulmonary embolism. A pulmonary embolism is deadly and yet entirely preventable. The failure to prevent a pulmonary embolism is a case of medical malpractice pure and simple.
Pulmonary embolism is the silent killer which is responsible for a large number of sudden fatalities in otherwise healthy individuals quite suddenly and without warning. What is a pulmonary embolism? It is a blockage in one or more arteries of the lungs. Mostly it happens when a blood clot travels into the lungs (usually legs) and creates a blockage. Such blood clots are known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and pulmonary embolism results as a complication of this condition. Pulmonary embolism can be fatal if anti-clotting medications are not administrated immediately.
Blood clots, DVTs and pulmonary embolisms are a few of the leading cause of preventable deaths in a hospital. In many cases, blood clots develop during prolonged hospital stays, go undiagnosed and result in the sudden death of a patient who may have left hospital recently. Most people might naively blame such a death on complications resulting from the condition the patient was just treated for, but the truth may be pure and simple medical malpractice. That is why an autopsy is advised in such sudden fatalities, so that truth can be found and if the death is the result of medical negligence, justice should prevail.
Lawsuits filed as a result of a pulmonary embolism are often wrongful death lawsuits. The failure to administer blood thinners or anti-clotting medicines constitutes gross negligence and medical malpractice on part of the physician or the hospital. The failure to disclose risks associated with the surgery including DVT is another cause of action that can be brought. A state jury in 2007 awarded as US $ 1.7 million in damages for a wrongful death.