Massachusetts Court of Appeals Affirms $2.5 Million Gross Negligence Verdict in Hiatal Hernia Medical Malpractice Case
Not every bad result in an operating room or emergency treatment center results in a finding of medical negligence. After all, some patients have medical conditions that may not respond to treatment, and some have diseases or injuries for which there is no cure.
However, if a particular patient could have been saved through the exercise of reasonable medical care but, instead, dies because the treating physician’s care fell below the standard of competency for doctors who regularly perform such procedures, a Cape Cod medical malpractice lawsuit may be possible. An attorney who practices in this area will need to review the facts of your loved one’s particular case in order to determine whether there is a reasonable chance for success on the merits before going forward with the case.
Facts of the Case
In a recent case, the plaintiff was the surviving spouse and personal representative of a woman who died after undergoing surgery for treatment of a hiatal hernia in her diaphragm. The plaintiff brought a medical malpractice wrongful death lawsuit against the defendants, a doctor, a nurse, and the professional corporation for whom they worked, alleging that defendants’ treatment of the decedent fell below the standard of care for an average qualified surgeon and nurse and that this breach of care was a substantial factor in the decedent’s death. The defendants answered that the decedent died as a result of longstanding damage to her heart caused by her hiatal hernia rather than from any alleged negligence committed by them.