When parents in Tennessee bring their kids to a medical facility for treatment, they generally expect their kids to receive a certain standard of care. A failure to diagnose and treat a serious medical condition in a timely manner can be dangerous and may cause a child to suffer serious harm, or worse. A family has recently been awarded a judgment of $6.5 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit after a failure to diagnose intestinal problems led to the death of their 11-month-old child.
The family first visited the medical facility after their child experienced issues with diarrhea and vomiting for two days. After waiting nearly a day before receiving a diagnosis, the family says their child was transferred to another facility. Despite the severity of his condition, the child was transferred via ambulance rather than being airlifted, and the family claims that no emergency lights or sirens were used.
Shortly after arriving at the other facility, the child became unresponsive and life-saving measures were initiated. Unfortunately, the delay in treatment of the intestinal condition caused him to go into septic shock, and he was pronounced dead soon thereafter. With medical conditions of this nature, timing is of the essence, and had he received the proper care, such an outcome might have been avoidable.
The death of a child is something no family should ever have to experience, especially when it occurs due to the negligence of another party. Families who suffer such loss may wish to pursue accountability through the civil justice system, but they might need assistance in navigating the process. An attorney in Tennessee can assist a family in pursuing the compensation deserved through a medical malpractice claim against the party or parties deemed responsible.
