Man Suffers Stroke and Paralysis After Abnormal Test Results Ignored by Doctors

A 71-year-old man brought a claim against the hospital and the doctors and nurses involved in his medical treatment after suffering a stroke that left him with residual paralysis on his left side. The injured Plaintiff visited a hospital emergency room complaining of difficulty urinating after undergoing prostate surgery two weeks earlier. The hospital's ER doctor ran tests on the Plaintiff, which came back abnormal, but it appeared unclear whether anyone saw or reviewed the reports during the time of the Plaintiff's initial visit. A few days later the Plaintiff saw his own treating physician, and the Plaintiff claimed that neither he nor his physician was ever notified of the results of the hospital tests. Two weeks later, Plaintiff visited the emergency room, was treated by the same doctor, and was again discharged after the doctor failed to mention the abnormal urine test results. Two days later, the bacteria from plaintiff's urine spread to his heart, causing a stroke which resulted in paralysis on the left side of his body. Plaintiff brought claims against the hospital, the emergency room doctor, his own treating physician, and emergency room nurses on duty at relevant times. The Plaintiff alleged medical malpractice for a failure to properly communicate the findings of infection from the test results, and failure to treat him properly.

SETTLEMENT: $2,250,000

Walter Gubbei v. Francesca DiLeonardo, Kennedy University Hospital, Andrew Weitzel, Sandra Bishop and Nancy Robinson