Legal Question in Medical Malpractice in Pennsylvania

My mom had broken her hip. She had surgery in August. She then got an infection and had to have surgery again. While she was at rehab her blood count was low. They transferred her to the hosp. for a transfusion they gave her blood in 1 hour. After that she started wheezing and they gave her a breathing treatment and got it under control. She stayed there for the night. The next morning she woke up and could not catch her breath. After working on her they got her stable and sent her to CCU. She was there for 3 days. I was told because they gave her blood too fast they put her in congestive heart failure. When we received the bill for the hospital stay for that admission I called and said I am not paying because it was there fault that happened her. If they did not give her blood too fast nothing would have happened. Also while she was in there they forgot to give her the blood pressure medicine she has been taking. They feel they did nothing wrong. Do we have a negligence case against them. By the way my mother is 87 years old.


Asked on 1/16/10, 7:44 am

2 Answers from Attorneys

Arthur Newmark Arthur Newmark, M.D.. Esq

Please accept my sympathies for everything you and your mother have been through.

If you believe you have a case, I encourage you start calling medical malpractice attorneys in your area today. Medical malpractice attorneys will generally listen to your complaint for free. If they think you have a case, they will invite you to their office to find out more details. Generally they will not charge for this service, but, if they believe you have a case, will offer to take the case on a contingent fee basis, meaning you only pay them out the money they win for you, if any.

Personally, I do not see a medical malpractice case which I would take.

You very well may be correct that they put your mother in congestive heart failure by giving her blood too fast. From what you have said, I presume that she recovered.

The three day CCU stay may have been avoidable but the amount of time money that I would have to invest to prove that are not justified by the amount I could recover.

This is my opinion only, as I said in the first paragraph, most medical malpractice attorneys will speak to see you over the phone for free. So I urge you to contact attorneys as soon as possible if you would like to discuss a possible case.

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Answered on 1/21/10, 9:40 am
James Monaghan Law Office of James V. Monaghan

Based on the facts presented, a medical error has occurred. Medical malpractice attorneys evaluate cases in terms of violations of the standard of care and damages. The pivoltol issue seems to be the extent of damages since,thankfully, your mother recovered without permanent consequences. It my estimation, the costs of pursuit,includibng expert fees, would exceed the value of the case. However, the opinion of counsel can vary and I urge you to explore this with other qualified attorneys. If you choose to do so, you must act within the statute of limitations which is two years from when you knew or should have known of the error, The safest trigger date is the day that the transfusion occurred. Jon Warren,Esquire.

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Answered on 1/21/10, 10:29 am


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