Wisconsin medical malpractice

This Wisconsin medical malpractice lawsuit involves a situation which could have easily been avoided if the hospital's medical staff had merely run simple and routine tests. According to the Green Bay Press Gazette, Gustavo Espinal-Santos was a Wisconsin farm worker. In late December of 2003, his friend brought him to the Bellin Family Medical Center when he complained of feeling sick. Santos was seen by physicians assistants who determined that he was suffering from pneumonia. However, they did not run any diagnostic tests, perform biopsies or take any X-rays to confirm their diagnosis.

A short while later, Santos was admitted to St. Vincent's Hospital where doctors correctly diagnosed that he was actually suffering from blastomycosis, a rare infection that may develop when inhaling a fungus called Blastomyces dermatitidis, which is found in wood and soil. Unfortunately for Santos, the infection had already taken hold and he on January 1, 2004. His family, wife Maria and daughters Zavala (10 years old) and Anna Sophia (5 years old) filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the Bellin Health and its medical staff for Santos's wrongful death and a jury awarded them $3.7 million in damages.

Liability for wrong medical diagnosis

While medical staff can't always correctly diagnosis symptoms, their actions (or inactions) are judged against others in their field. When they do not meet that standard of care, they can be held liable for the consequences. In this case, the physicians assistants at Bellin should have at least conducted routine tests on Santos to either confirm or deny whether he had pneumonia. Unfortunately, medical misdiagnosis and substandard care affect thousands of patients every day all over the country.

If you've been injured due to the medical negligence of a doctor, physicians assistant, nurse or any other type of medical staff, contact a an experienced medical malpractice attorney for a free consultation as you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries.