“Kevin” (not a real person) celebrated his 49th birthday in great apparent health. That’s why it was a shock when, after a burning, painful tightness in his chest hit him during a neighborhood jog, examinations revealed that two of his coronary arteries were more than 90 percent blocked. The bad news: Kevin would need heart bypass surgery. The good news: he was otherwise in great health, as he’d believed, and could expect to be back at his job in about four months.
The surgery went smoothly. On one of the many nursing staff visits to Kevin’s hospital room that afternoon, as he slept under the gaze of his visiting wife, he was administered his dosage of insulin.
The problem was that Kevin was not a diabetic. The nurse had mistaken Kevin for another patient and given him that patient’s insulin.
She immediately realized her error and contacted Kevin’s attending physician. The doctor ordered the nursing staff to check Kevin’s blood sugar every two hours and advise him of the results. After Kevin’s first two glucose readings came back within normal limits, the doctor told the nursing staff to discontinue testing until the morning, when he would visit Kevin and his other patients on the unit. Kevin’s wife, Nora, sat in a visitor’s chair, unaware of the developing fiasco as she read a novel and waited for Kevin to wake.
As evening progressed into night, and Kevin failed to regain consciousness even briefly, Nora grew increasingly worried. The nursing staff dismissed her concerns until more than two hours into the night shift. When they checked Kevin’s blood sugar again, it was critically low. Kevin was completely unresponsive. He died a short time later.
In the wake of his funeral, Nora and the rest of Kevin’s family pressed the medical team for answers; none were forthcoming. Nobody could explain why Kevin’s blood sugar had crashed. Nora retained an attorney.
The record of the insulin dose and the doctor’s testing orders didn’t show up in Kevin’s file for more than three months after his death. Further investigation would reveal that the nurse who had administered the insulin had a history of medication errors with numerous patients under her care. Despite this, no definitive actions had been taken to suspend or even to more closely supervise that aspect of her duties.
Nora sued the hospital, the nurse, and the doctor for negligence and malpractice. After more than two years of motions, the case is headed to trial.
While the legal case dragged on, Nora had been forced to downsize her family from a house into an apartment. She’d reduced the auto insurance coverage on the family car — what had been Kevin’s car — and transferred their two sons from parochial school into a public school. She was still having trouble making ends meet every month. That’s when her attorney put her in touch with USClaims.
At USClaims, we offer pre-settlement funding, if a case is qualified for pre-settlement funding then we would purchase a portion of the proceeds of the anticipated court judgment or settlement for some cash now. USClaims only gets paid if a case is won or has reached a settlement! Apply now or call us today at 1-877-USCLAIMS to learn more.
