Death From Septic Shock: $1.95 Million Settlement
2024 Medical Malpractice Case Report
By Attorney Willliam J. Thompson
Middlesex Superior Court, Massachusetts
Lawsuit claims standard of care not followed for pelvic inflammatory disease
The plaintiff’s decedent was a 52 year old woman who died from septic shock, likely from pelvic pathology.
The case involved a dispute about what actually occurred in a single visit with a female patient and her male PCP. The doctor claimed, and his notes reflected, that the patient’s vital signs were stable, and she complained of lower abdominal pain that was progressively worse over the last three weeks. The doctor’s assessment was that she had 3 out of 10 characteristic cramping, mostly located in the suprapubic area. A recent CT scan finding showed a suspicion for intrauterine infection/inflammation with fluid collection. The patient denied recent sexual activity. The doctor’s progress note reflected the patient declined a pelvic examination. He nonetheless diagnosed her with pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and prescribed Levaquin.
According to the affidavit of the patient’s husband, who was present for the office visit, his wife reported that she was in a lot of pain during this office visit. She said the pain in her stomach was affecting her movement and her ability to sleep, and the doctor was dismissive of these complaints of pain. The doctor did not offer to perform a pelvic examination nor did the patient decline to have a pelvic examination performed. She questioned if she needed a gynecologist appointment and the doctor told her she did not need to see a gynecologist as he was going to prescribe her medication.
Later that same day, and the following day, the patient called the doctor’s office. She reported that she was in a lot of pain. She was told that the doctor was busy and he would call her back. However, the doctor did not call her back. When her condition worsened, her husband called 911 to have her brought to the emergency department. There, her conditioned deteriorated and she suffered a cardiac arrest and died.
The plaintiff claimed that when there is concern for PID, the standard of care requires the physician to privately question the patient regarding her sexual history, the presence of any vaginal discharge, and also ensure that prompt pelvic examination and sexual transmitted infection testing is undertaken, preferably with a gynecologist. Treatment includes antibiotics, however Levaquin is not an appropriate antibiotic to treat PID.
The case settled after discovery for $1,950,000.
Lubin & Meyer attorneys Andrew C. Meyer and William J. Thompson represented the plaintiff in this medical malpractice lawsuit.
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