Lisa Arrowood Settles Medical Malpractice Claim for $500,000 in Shunt Malfunction Case

04/06/2009

 

Lisa G. Arrowood settled a medical malpractice claim for $500,000 on behalf of the family of a 13-year-old girl who died after doctors failed to diagnose and treat a shunt malfunction.  The child was experiencing severe headaches and neck pain and over the course of several weeks was brought to the pediatrician’s office and the emergency room on several occasions by her mother, but her condition worsened. Her doctors diagnosed her with a sinus infection. The girl’s parents eventually took her to a different ER at a major teaching hospital where she was admitted for emergency shunt revision. Despite three surgeries to relieve pressure on her brain stem, the girl did not improve, and after several days of intensive care her parents elected to withdraw life support.  The defendants denied any negligence. However, plaintiff’s counsel obtained one of the defendant’s handwritten notes, which confirmed that he failed to make the correct diagnosis which then led to a critical delay in treatment.

 

For more information, read the complete Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Settlement Report.

 

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