Question

Ethical Legal Issues in Health Care What is a recent medical/healthcare malpractice (negligence) case. The case should have happened within the last 5 years in the United States a. Who is the plaintiff? Who is the defendant? b. Briefly summarize the case. What are the facts of the case? c. Discuss each element of negligence in the case.Discuss each of the elements of negligence as related to the case. Was there a duty to care? What was that duty? Was there a breach of duty? What was that breach? What were the injuries? Where the injuries physical, emotional or both? Was there pain and suffering? Was there causation? If monetary damages were awarded, do you think the amount was fair? Why or why not? If you thought the amount was not fair, how much do you think should have been awarded? Please Help

Answer 1

A 20-year-old student of Alabama died after taking prescribed birth control pills that developed a blood clot in her lung. Hope Johnson had gone through screening prior to her receiving medication and the screening revealed that she had a genetic predisposition to blood clots and still she was prescribed the pills. A couple of weeks later she became ill and was first diagnosed with bronchitis at Auburn Urgent care facility where she was given antibiotics. Again two days later, she complained of sharp chest pain and another doctor prescribed her an inhaler as he could not access its electronic records. Johnson died the next day of a massive pulmonary embolism.

The plaintiff was Johnson and his family who had the lawyer Brett Turnbull.

The verdict was entered against Auburn Urgent Care its owner and founder, Dr. Zenon Bednarski and Dr. David WIllis who were the defendants.

A week before trial, Lee Obstetrics and gynecology settled their claims with a confidential amount.

Turnbull said in the court that Johnson did not tell us about her blood clot predisposition as he himself did not know because the OB/GYN at Lee Obstetrics and gynecology reported him normal even after her testings revealed positive for Factor V mutation.

The defense argued that the doctors responded reasonably and had no way of knowing her genetic predisposition to blood clots. Dr. Willis had his first day at the busiest Care facility.

While closing, Turnbull asked the jury to award $9M in damages. Later, $9M was awarded to the family.

Negligence, in this case, occurred at each step of diagnosis. The very first was the inaccurate or false declaration of the report at OB/GYN. Later when she complained of chest pain and when she explained her current medications, Auburn Urgent Care Facility responded carelessly by prescribing antibiotics and inhaler without prior screening and analysis. Dr. Willis is as responsible as any other defender because medical negligence cannot be tolerated even on your first working day and he could ask for assistance from any other senior in the hospital.

As it is a case of death due to medical malfunction, no amount of money could settle the damages but I think the plaintiff's lawyer and the jury decided wisely on $9M.