City Hospital Failed to Perform Glucose Testing - Coma and Death
The firm obtained a $1,250,000 settlement, on the eve of trial, for the family of a 35 year old man who had been treated with prednisone for three months for a lung condition known as sarcoidosis. It was claimed that the dosage was excessive and caused the patient's glucose levels to become significantly elevated resulting in hyperglycemia. Three days prior to his death, the patient returned to the defendant clinic where neither urine nor blood testing was done which would have revealed the abnormal glucose, despite the patient reporting symptoms of excessive thirst and urinary frequency. When the patient was taken to a different hospital three days later, his glucose was elevated more than 20 times the range of normal, and was causing seizures. He lapsed into a coma and died later that day.
In arguing that defendant was responsible, Edward had to prove that the symptoms that should have alerted defendant to perform urine and blood testing were actually reported to the doctor and nurse at the clinic, since the clinic records did not document certain symptoms. The settlement award provided compensation to the family for loss of decedent's earnings as a messenger, and loss of parental care and guidance to his 8 year old son, even though the child's birth certificate was left blank in naming the father.