A little over 2 years after the death of Janet Ann Jones, her husband Daniel Jones is suing the University of Florida Board of Trustees and Winter Haven Hospital for medical malpractice and wrongful death. Daniel contends that his wife wasn’t given the proper medical care when she arrived at the hospital’s emergency room at 9:43pm on December 20, 2008. At the time, Janet’s blood pressure was low and she was throwing up blood.
Four hours after she was admitted, she went into cardiac arrest and was resuscitated both times. At around 4am, Janet was admitted to the ICU. Her blood pressure remained very low. At 7:45 am, she was taken off the ventilator. Janet died on December 28, 2008.
While her immediate cause of death is listed as massive gastrointestinal bleeding, Daniel’s Florida wrongful death complaint claims that medical negligence contributed to his causing wife’s passing. Alleged acts of medical negligence include the staff’s failure to attend to his wife immediately upon her arrival at the hospital, not ordering a full blood count and other related studies when treating her, failure to immediately consult with a gastroenterologist about her care, and failure to immediately give her an interavenous tube for blood and saline.
South Florida Medical Malpractice
Most patients will avoid going to the emergency room unless they have an actual emergency. This is why it is important that emergency rooms are properly staffed with enough medical workers that are properly trained to handle any type of emergency situation. When failure to provide immediate and/or proper care results in Florida personal injury or wrongful death, the patient or his/her family may have grounds for a Florida medical malpractice case.
Common cause of emergency room medical errors:
• Inadequate staff
• Inadequately trained medical personnel
• Inadequate equipment
• Unsanitary conditions
• Inadequate procedures for admitting and treating patients
• Medication errors
• Patient dumping
Man Sues for Wife’s Death While at Winter Haven Hospital, The Ledger, February 11, 2011
Related Web Resources:
University of Florida Board of Trustees
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