Medical malpractice claim filed in Louisiana man’s death

Many medical conditions require the use of temporary measures until a more permanent solution can be determined and implemented by physicians. In the case of one Louisiana man, a temporary stint was never replaced. A medical malpractice claim recently filed by his estate claims this negligent oversight on the part of his doctors and the medical center where he was treated led to his death.

The man was being treated for a mass on his pancreas and cholestatic liver function between Aug. 5, 2009 and Oct. 30, 2009. One of his doctors installed a stint while the patient obtained a surgical evaluation. During that time period, he underwent two additional procedures in connection with the pancreatic mass before being released from care at the end of October.

Court documents claim the man was never given any instructions regarding the care of the stint originally implanted. Further, he was supposedly not told that the stint was supposed to be temporary, and should have been removed and replaced with a permanent one within three months. It is believed that this is why the Louisiana man’s wound failed to heal properly, causing him to develop a septic infection in his stomach. In Aug. 2010, he required another surgical procedure to replace the temporary stint with a permanent one, but it was too late, and the man died.

The medical malpractice suit alleges that the defendants’ negligence led to the man’s death. Allegations include not following accepted standards of care and not informing him that the temporary stint needed to be replaced among other failings. Patients often trust the men and women who are in charge of their care. When that trust is broken, an individual can suffer serious, permanent or even fatal injuries. That person — or a person’s family in the case of death — has the right to file a lawsuit similar to this one against the party or parties deemed responsible.

Source: The Louisiana Record, “Medical malpractice lawsuit filed by estate of patient who allegedly suffered septic infection due to implant“, Kyle Barnett, Aug. 7, 2014