$______ RECOVERY - MEDICAL MALPRACTICE - EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT - HOSPITAL NEGLIGENCE - 7-YEAR-OLD PLAINTIFF PRESENTS 3 TIMES TO DEFENDANT HOSPITAL AND STAFF WITH LEG INJURY MISDIAGNOSED AND RELEASED EACH TIME, ULTIMATELY RESULTING IN SEVERE COMPARTMENT SYNDROME AND DVT - LIFE-SAVING LEFT LEG AMPUTATION.

• Pages: 3-4

CPAP machine at home, it made no sense that the wife would fail to so advise the nurse, and

that the absence of a mention of the history of sleep apnea underscored the plaintiff’s position

that the defendant acted negligently in failing to obtain a proper history from the family.

Regarding damages, the evidence that the decedent was conscious most of the time during the

5-year period between the injury and death, but could not speak to his family and required

feeding by tube, would have clearly producea large award if the case had been tried. In this re-

gard, it is felt that such reaction would have been heightened by the evidence of very clear

negligence.

$1,800,000 RECOVERY – MEDICAL MALPRACTICE –

EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT – HOSPITAL NEGLIGENCE –

7-YEAR-OLD PLAINTIFF PRESENTS 3 TIMES TO

DEFENDANT HOSPITAL AND STAFF WITH LEG INJURY

MISDIAGNOSED AND RELEASED EACH TIME,

ULTIMATELY RESULTING IN SEVERE COMPARTMENT

SYNDROME AND DVT – LIFE-SAVING LEFT LEG

AMPUTATION.

Hudson County, NJ

In this medical malpractice case, the minor plaintiff, a 7-year-old

boy, asserted that the defendant hospital staff violated the standard

of care in assessing the plaintiff, resulting in permanent, life-long

injury.

On March 24, 2014, the plaintiff presented to the defendant’s emer-

gency room with an injury wherein his left leg had been caught between

the mat and outer frame of a trampoline. The plaintiff contended that

the defendants negligently assessed the plaintiff in a deficient and in-

complete manner contributing to his misdiagnosis. The plaintiff pointed

to one defendant nurse’s testimony that the plaintiff should have re-

ceived a focused assessment; the nurse was on duty that day and did

not perform one. The plaintiff was X-rayed, showing no fracture or dislo-

cation, was diagnosed with foot sprain and discharged.

The plaintiff’s pain persisted over the next 2 days, whereupon his parents

took him back to the defendant’s emergency room 2 more times. When

he presented to the defendants the second time, the plaintiff’s father re-

ported that he had been restless and in pain and had run a fever. The

defendant triage nurse, although noting foot pain and swelling, failed to

assess the foot. She did not take the plaintiff’s blood pressure, though

noting an elevated heart rate. The plaintiff was given a splint and again

discharged with a diagnosis of foot sprain.

The third time the plaintiff presented, his foot was still not assessed with

checking of foot pulses, examination of the foot, or skin sensation assess-

ment, despite performing gastrointestinal, genitourinary, integumentary,

neurological, and respiratory assessments. The plaintiff was again diag-

nosed with foot sprain, splinted, and released.

The plaintiff mother took him to work with her the following day where she

noted that his leg was purple and he stopped responding to her. She

rushed him to a different hospital where a Doppler signal showed no

pulses in his lower left extremity and an ultrasound revealed deep vein

thrombosis. The plaintiff was diagnosed with severe compartment syn-

drome and he underwent a fasciotomy. Following the surgery, he devel-

oped septic shock and went into respiratory distress requiring ventilator

support, which led to a lifesaving, above-the-knee amputation.

The plaintiff maintained that the defendants’ multiple lack of assessments

over 3 visits by the plaintiff led to a failure to timely diagnose compart-

ment syndrome resulting in DVT, secondary infection, and streptococcus

with related complications requiring amputation of the plaintiff’s leg

about the knee. The plaintiff presented expert medical testimony that the

SUMMARIES WITH TRIAL ANALYSIS 3

New Jersey Jury Verdict Review & Analysis

Founder

IraJ.Zarin,Esq.

President

Jed M. Zarin

Contributing Editors

Brian M. Kessler, Esq.

Michael Bagen

Laine Harmon, Esq.

Cristina N. Hyde, J.D.

Deborah McNally, Paralegal

Ruth B. Neely, Paralegal

Cathy Schlecter-Harvey, Esq.

Julie L. Singer, Esq.

Tammy A. Smith, Esq.

Kate Turnbow, Paralegal

Susan Winkler

Business Development

Gary Zarin

Production Coordinator

Cathryn A. Peyton

Professional Search

Timothy P. Mathieson

Court Data Coordinator

Jeffrey S. Zarin

Customer Services

Meredith Whelan

Circulation Manager

Ellen Loren

Published by Jury Verdict Review

Publications, Inc. 45 Springfield

Avenue, Springfield, NJ 07081

www.jvra.com

Main Office:

973/376-9002 Fax 973/376-1775

Circulation & Billing Department:

973/535-6263

New Jersey Jury Verdict Review &

Analysis is a trademark of Jury Verdict

Review Publications, Inc.

Reproduction in any form with out the

express written permission of the

publisher is strictly prohibited by law.

New Jersey Jury Verdict Review &

Analysis (ISSN 8750-8060) is

published monthly at the subscription

rate of $395/year by Jury Verdict

Review Publications, Inc., 45 Springfield

Avenue, Springfield, NJ 07081.

Periodical postage paid at Springfield,

NJ and at additional mailing offices.

Postmaster: Send address changes to:

New Jersey Jury Verdict Review &

Analys is, 45 Springfield Avenue,

Springfield, NJ 07081.

Subscribe Now