$500,000 Settlement for Failure to Diagnose Kidney Disease

Blume Donnelly lawyer Michael Zerres obtained a $500,000 settlement on behalf of a 20 year-old man who died as a result of kidney disease. The client, who had seen his pediatrician in his teens, had abnormal laboratory results, including elevated creatinine in the blood and protein in the urine, which were suggestive of nephrotic syndrome, or, developing kidney disease. The pediatrician failed to act upon the abnormal results and at age 17, the client was diagnosed with end stage renal disease by another physician. He subsequently required dialysis and then underwent a kidney transplant, which failed. At the time of his death, he was back on dialysis and was awaiting a second kidney transplant. The pediatrician’s lawyer contended that the client, who had a type of kidney disease known as focal segmental glumerol sclerosis (“FSGS”), would probably not have responded well to treatment, even with an earlier diagnosis. Plaintiff’s expert nephrologist asserted that the client would have had a 50% chance of going into remission had the pediatrician acted in a timely fashion.