$1,500,000 Settlement for Failure to Diagnose & Treat Bleeding
- Date: Winter 2011
- Attorney: Carol L. Forte
- Settlement: $1,500,000
- Practice Areas: Medical Malpractice, Failure to Diagnose & Treat Bleeding, Wrongful Death
Carol represented the estate of a 33-year-old woman who had substantial bleeding after a vaginal delivery. Experts claimed that her hemorrhage was not definitively addressed for 24 hours, and that the measures which were taken to restore her fluid volume, i.e., blood transfusions and IV fluids, did nothing to address the cause of the ongoing bleeding; which was that pieces of the placenta had embedded themselves into her uterus, resulting in hemorrhage. A hysterectomy was finally performed the next day, but the patient had sustained severe damage to her organs, and died 6 weeks later of complications stemming from the hemorrhage. The case settled for $1.5 million, with the hospital and delivery doctor contributing $250,000 each, and the physician who delayed treatment for 24 hours paying his whole one million dollar policy. There were two minor children surviving.