November 28, 2024
I recently worked on a case where a 41 year old single mother went into the hospital for an elective procedure.
The surgery seemed to go fine, but on the day she was supposed to be discharged she collapsed.
The patient had developed a blood clot that had broken loose and traveled to her lungs.
When it reached her lungs, it became stuck and was preventing her from being able to breathe.
However, the doctors acted swiftly and the patient was resuscitated and brought into the operating room to have the blood clot removed.
This second surgery to remove the blood clot from her lungs also went well, and the patient was placed on blood thinners as a precautionary measure to try to prevent further clots from developing.
You see, our blood has to be able to clot in order to prevent us from bleeding to death.
Therefore, whenever any patient is placed on medication to thin their blood, called “anti-coagulation” medicine, the doctors are supposed to monitor the blood closely to ensure that the blood does not become too thin.
Over the course of the next several days, the doctors continued to give the patient more anticoagulation medication.
As they did, the patient’s blood became increasingly thin which was demonstrated by a rise in what’s called the “INR”.
The normal range for the INR is 2.5.
In this case, the doctors wanted to bring the patient’s INR to 3.0 to what they called a “therapeutic range”.
But as this patient’s INR continued to rise over the next several days, the doctors continued to give more and more anticoagulation medication.
About a week later, the patient’s INR reached 4.8 and yet more anticoagulation was given based on the previous order.
Next, the patient’s INR rose to 6.2 and more anticoagulation was given.
The next morning, which was a Monday, the patient began complaining of a headache.
Her most recent INR which was taken the evening before was over 8.
Now what is really outrageous is that over that weekend, the patient’s attending doctor gave specific orders that the patient was to remain in the ICU until he returned the following week.
But as soon as he left, a nurse transferred the patient out of the ICU to a room on the “regular” floor.
So in response to the patient’s complaint of a headache, a resident on the regular floor gave this patient aspirin.
Within a very short time, the patient collapsed and died.
An autopsy that was performed revealed that the patient had a massive hemorrhage on both sides of her brain.
The cause of death was not only the critically high INR, but also the fact that the resident gave the patient “aspirin”.
See, the patient’s complaint of a headache was no doubt from the early stages of a bleed in her brain from her blood being too thin because of the anti-coagulation medicine.
But when the resident doctor made her take aspirin, that only served to further thin the patient’s blood and kill her.
Again, this is not the kind of thing that should be happening in a hospital.
How does knowing these things make you feel?
Please let us know if you’ve had any similar experiences or have any feedback that you would like to share.
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Founder Anthony T. DiPietro, Esq. is a compassionate and skilled trial attorney who has completely dedicated the past 23 years of his career to litigating medical malpractice and sexual abuse cases against major corporate institutions including hospitals, medical clinics, schools, and other wrongdoers.
Mr. DiPietro has also obtained some of New York State’s highest verdicts and settlements, and has been selected to New York State Super Lawyers® each year, for the past 10 years in a row.
In 2022, Mr. DiPietro was selected as one of America’s Top 100 High-Stakes Litigators for the landmark cases he’s won on behalf of survivors of sexual exploitation and abuse.
Here, at The DiPietro Law Firm, we’re committed to helping victims of sexual abuse and assault find the justice they deserve.
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Years of Abuse: 1987 – 2016
Brief:
Robert Hadden, a disgraced Obstetrician-Gynecologist (OB/GYN) who worked for Columbia University and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, was criminally convicted in 2016 of sexually exploiting and abusing patients under the guise of medical care.
Hadden used his position of authority and trust to sexually exploit women and girls for nearly three decades as a Columbia University physician.
All the while, Columbia University and New York-Presbyterian Hospital administrators turned their backs and ignored reports of Hadden’s abuse, gaslighting patients and the public.
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Years of Abuse: 1979 – 2022
Brief:
David H. Broadbent is a former OB/GYN under criminal investigation and facing civil lawsuits for sexual abuse of patients.
Broadent worked at multiple medical facilities in the Provo, Orem and Salt Lake City, UT areas.
These facilities included Intermountain Healthcare’s Utah Valley Hospital, MountainStar Healthcare’s Timpanogos Hospital, other Utah health care providers, and he also had adverse action taken against his medical license back in 1990.
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Years of Abuse: 1990 – 2016
Read More: University of Southern California & Predator George Tyndall
Years of Abuse: 1961 – 1996
Brief:
22 predator teachers and administrators, over the course of 35 years.
Years of Abuse: 1960 – 1982
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