Legal Question in Medical Malpractice in Pennsylvania
Pulmonary Embolism
My husband was in the hospital due to a severe asthmas issue that came from work. While he was in the hospital one of his IV sites became swollen. The IV was taken out and over the course of days it became greenish looking. We had asked the nurses if it looked infected and they all brushed it off. After leaving the hospital within a few days it became extremely painful and ugly so my husband went to our primary physician. He had a culture done and was sent for a scan of his arm and in the interm he was put on antibiotics. It turned out he had a superficial blood clot in his left arm. Our doctors called us about 5 days later to let him know the culture came back that he had MRSA and changed his antibiotic. Within about 2 days he started having chest pains and shortness of breath. He went to his pulmonologist who sent him to the hospital for a CT scan of his lungs and it turned out he had a PE in his right lung and was immediately admitted and put on heprin. His hospital stay was about 7 days.
Does he have a case for negligence? His breathing has been worse and he is still out of work since the first incident occured March 5th.
The doctor said he has no doubt it came from the arm clot.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Pulmonary Embolism
It sounds like your husband has a pretty good argument. You should seek counsel. I or another attorney that post here would be happy to help you and your husband for a fee.