$3,500,000 settlement paid by a local hospital before the filing of a
lawsuit for a 56 y.o. woman who suffered brain damage after becoming
oxygen
deprived during treatment she received in the hospital?s emergency room.
Our client, an executive assistant for a large financial services
company,
presented to a local radiology practice for an ultrasound-guided biopsy
of a
thyroid nodule. After the biopsy needle was inserted her blood pressure
became very low, she became sweaty and started vomiting. An ambulance
was
called and she was taken to the local hospital and admitted to the
emergency
room. Upon arrival at the emergency room she was noted to be very
combative
and restless. She was also found to be disoriented, hyperventilating and
continuously flailing her arms. She pulled the IVs out of her arms twice
and
also pulled off her heart monitor leads. She was unable to follow
commands
during the neurologic portion of her exam. It was determined that a CT
scan
needed to be performed. Attempts were made to sedate her with Ativan and
IV
Valium, but she remained agitated. A decision was made to anesthetize
her so
that the CT scan could be performed. She was then administered Propofol,
Vercuronium and Diprivan. Because these drugs would impair her ability
to
breathe on her own, she needed to be intubated. This was reported to
have
been done successfully.
Approximately 1 ½ hours later our client was reported to have become
alert
and started moving her head. These movements reportedly loosened the
endotracheal tube and caused it to become displaced. Shortly thereafter
she
was noted to suffer cardio-pulmonary arrest. A code was called and she
was
successfully resuscitated after about 20 minutes. Laboratory testing
revealed that she suffered significant oxygen deprivation. Thereafter,
she
was diagnosed as suffering anoxic encephalopathy (brain damage caused by
a
lack of oxygen). She remained on a ventilator for several weeks and
required
a tracheotomy. She was then transferred to the brain injury unit at a
major
hospital in New York City where she remained admitted for approximately
one
month.
It was claimed that our client was not properly monitored and cared for
in
the emergency department. Specifically, it was claimed that appropriate
measures should have been taken to prevent her from self-extubating. It
was
further alleged that the self-extubation should have been recognized and
corrected before she became so severely oxygen deprived that she
suffered
cardio-respiratory arrest.
Currently our client remains cognitively intact and is fully able to
speak
and communicate. Sadly, She suffers from spasticity of her arms, with
the
right being worse than the left. She suffers significant balance
problems
which require the use of a walker to ambulate and vision disturbances.
She
has been unable to return to work since the time of the incident.