Case 14: Expert Witness
The plaintiff’s attorney hired several expert witnesses. The opinion of the Emergency Medicine witness is shown here. The expert witness also included a letter describing the amount that he charges. It is shown below for MedMalReviewer subscribers. Continue to the next page to see the legal outcome in this case.
Case 14: Deposition
The lawsuit was filed in federal court because the alleged malpractice happened at the VA, and defendant was the United States of America. Multiple plaintiffs were involved in the case; all of them are the patient’s adult children. The resident who saw the patient and discharged him from the ED was deposed. The plaintiff’s attorney […]
Case 14: Autopsy
An autopsy was completed and the summary is shown here. The entire autopsy report can be accessed for free here:
Case 14: Medical Outcome
On arrival to the ICU his heart rate was 108bpm, blood pressure was 128/85, respiratory rate was 22/minute and O2 sat was 99% on room air. The initial labs in the ICU are shown here: The patient went on to develop multiple episodes of bloody vomiting. He was given normal saline and a transfusion of […]
Case 14: Bounceback
After being released from the ED, the patient went back home. Later that night, he suddenly began to feel unwell, collapsed, and vomited blood. 911 was called and he was picked up by an ambulance. The ambulance record was hand-written and barely legible, it has been transcribed here for readability. The patient was brought to […]
Case 14: Workup
Labs were ordered. The electrolytes were reportedly normal but were not included in court documents. The CBC is shown below in red, with comparison to the results from the previous lab draws. A CT scan without contrast was also ordered. It showed no evidence of kidney stones and no definitive evidence of any acute emergency. […]
Case 14: Vomiting
During the days following the patient’s visit to his primary care doctor, he developed nausea and vomiting. He presented to an ED and the triage nurse entered the following note. The patient’s initial vitals were normal. He was assigned an ED room and seen by an ER nurse, who entered the following history. The patient […]
Case 14: Leg Pain
Case 14: Leg Pain This case concerns a 59-year-old man. Over the next pages we will follow his story from his PCP’s office, to a small ED, a rapid return to a larger ED, and ultimately to the ICU of one of the most prestigious hospitals in the world. The relevant narrative begins on October […]
Case 13: Documentation Review
The documentation review for this case is atypical. In the previous 12 cases, the Documentation Rubric has been used to grade the doctor’s note. However, the Rubric applies primarily to undifferentiated patients presenting to a clinic, urgent care or ED. It would be difficult to apply the Rubric to this case, so instead we will […]
Case 13: Medical Review
This month’s medical review is written by Dr. Justin Corcoran, MD. He is a board-certified toxicologist and EM physician. He can be found on Twitter at @J_Corky. In this case, we have a 53-year-old male who was to undergo anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) who unfortunately suffered a cardiac arrest on the table. Despite […]