$7.5 Million Medical Malpractice Settlement for Undiagnosed Infection
2025 Medical Malpractice Settlement Report
Suffolk Superior Court, Boston, Massachusetts
By Robert M. Higgins, attorney for the plaintiff
Lawsuit claims undiagnosed and untreated retropharyngeal absess leads to death of 49-year-old man
Case summary
The decedent was a very healthy, active 49-year-old man with a wife and 2 young children. In the early morning hours of 7/13/19, the decedent presented to the emergency room with severe back and shoulder pain. At 7:00A the defendant doctor and defendant physician assistant took over the decedent’s care. For the next 8 hours the decedent continued to complained of severe pain. Pain medication offered little relief.
At 12:00P, the defendants decided to admit the decedent to the hospital as his pain not improving. Blood cultures and blood work were ordered and drawn. At 1:00P his bloodwork returned and it showed clear evidence of a serious infection. There was no evidence that either defendant ever looked at the results. No antibiotics were ordered. The decedent continued to sit in the ED waiting to be transferred to a floor.
At 6:30P the decedent told a nurse he could not raise his right hand. It was thought he might be having a stroke so he was sent for a CT of his head. The study showed no stroke but did show an abnormal fluid collection in the retropharyngeal area. This finding was reported to the defendant ED doctor. Nothing was done with this information.
At 11:35P he was sent to have a cervical MRI which again showed the abnormal fluid collection. It was now much larger. Soon after his MRI he became short of breath and went into cardiac arrest. He was revived but he had been without oxygen and head imaging showed a severe brain injury. He was made comfort measures only and passed away that night from an anoxic brain injury as a result of an massive undiagnosed Staph infection. It was determined that he had an overwhelming infection that had started in the abscess in his retropharyngeal area.
The plaintiff retained an expert in infectious disease. It was his opinion that the decedent had clear signs and symptoms of an infection his entire time in the ED. The defendants should have recognized the infection, started him on antibiotics and he would have survived.
The case settled for $7,500,000 on the day of jury selection.
Lubin & Meyer attorneys Robert M. Higgins and Andrew C. Meyer, Jr. represented the plaintiff in this lawsuit.
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