A family member had a significant history of hypertension that was left untreated by his Primary Care Physician. Several months ago his illeac and abdominal aortic aneurysm was misdiagnosed, by the same PCP, which led to a rupture causing his death. Is there a possibilty of a medical malpractice lawsuit against the PCP for failure to treat his hypertension which led to further health complications and death?
Adrienne Patricia AllenPersonal Injury LawyerGrass Valley, CA ·
It's possible if you can prove that the doctor's actions fell below the standard of care (i.e. that other PCP's would have diagnosed the problem or referred the family member to a specialist.) To do this you would need to have another doctor review the case to determineif negligence exists. This can be expensive and generally no malpractice is found. You should consult with a medical malpractice attorney in your area. Good luck.
I am sorry for your loss. You really need to speak with a medical malpractice attorney. It would be helpful to get the medical records so the attorney has some tangible items to review and / or to send to his expert.
The short answer - yes. You likely have a wrongful death arising from a medical malpractice claim. In California if the standard of care for a general primary care physician requires that physician to refer out the patient, and that PCP fails to do so, they can be held to the higher standard of care. You should obtain the records and have them reviewed as soon as possible. The normal statute of limitations in California for medical malpractice is 1 year.
Christian K. Lassen IIPersonal Injury LawyerPhiladelphia, PA ·
Yes, but you would need a local med mal lawyer to order the medical records and send to an expert to review to ascertain whether there was a breach of the standard of care.
The treatment of hypertension, heck even the diagnosis of what numbers are normal and therefore the diagnosis itself, is an area with many opinions. Thus, failure to properly treat hypertension in and of itself is a gray area of medicine and would be very patient specific. The same is not true for diagnosis and treatment of an abdominal aortic aneurysm ("AAA"). The AAA is a life threatening condition and one that can be corrected if diagnosed in a timely manner. If a patient were to present to a doctor with signs of AAA and that patient were to even be at risk for AAA (risks including high blood pressure) and that doctor were to miss this diagnosis and said patient were to die as a result, this would indicate a high probability of a medical malpractice case being brought. The bottom line is that the family of someone who dies as a result of a missed AAA should see a medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible. Many of us offer free initial consultations.
- Paul
Paul J. Molinaro, M.D., J.D.
Attorney at Law, Physician, Broker
Fransen & Molinaro, LLP
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