With one in four people around the world dying from conditions caused by blood clots, a timely diagnosis of its symptoms is crucial for life-saving treatment.
A recent case was settled by the High Court on undisclosed terms after a man died in hospital from a blood clot.
The wife of the deceased man, 71 and mother to five, says that her “‘life has stood still” following the untimely death of her husband of 50 years.
The court had heard how the deceased man had developed a pulmonary thrombo-embolism, a blockage of an artery in the lungs, while recuperating in the Mater Hospital, Dublin, from surgery. The man was then transferred to the Incorporated Orthopaedic Hospital of Ireland, of Castle Avenue, Clontarf for rehabilitation in November 2014, where he later died.
Allegedly not diagnosed in time during his rehabilitation period, once the clot had been identified and diagnosed, it was too late and unable to be treated appropriately.
The case against the Incorporated Orthopaedic Hospital of Ireland argued that a number of opportunities had been missed to correctly diagnose the pulmonary thrombo-embolism, such as failure to refer the man for a CT pulmonary angiogram or to consider his pleuritic chest pain as a critical symptom of his fatal condition.
The court heard that pulmonary thrombo-embolism had in fact been considered in December 2014, but that the man had been given too limited a dose of the anti-coagulant Herparin to mitigate it effectively.
The coroner ultimately returned a verdict of ‘medical misadventure’ in the case, which has previously been discussed on this blog.
The settlement was approved by Mr Justice Kevin Cross, who offered his sympathies to the man’s wife and their family.
Wrong Diagnosis Claim
With one in four people around the world dying from conditions caused by blood clots, a timely diagnosis of its symptoms is crucial for life-saving treatment.
Although hospitals and medical professionals will always do their best to ensure that symptoms and conditions are diagnosed accurately and efficiently, failure to do so can result in catastrophic consequences for patients and their families, as observed in the above case.
If you believe that you, a family member, or loved one have been injured or that your health has declined as the result of a missed or incorrect diagnosis, please do not hesitate to speak to a member of our legal team regarding a wrong diagnosis claim for compensation, who will be happy to provide you with further assistance and information during this difficult period.
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