When a loved one becomes sick, people depend on hospitals and other health care facilities to provide the person with the best possible medical care. In fact, laws in Louisiana and in the rest of the country make it mandatory for medical facilities to provide a certain standard of care. If a medical facility fails to provide that standard of care, it may face consequences in the form of citations by regulatory authorities or medical malpractice lawsuits.
Recently, a hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana, was named in a lawsuit that alleged that a hospital failed to provide adequate care, which led to the death of a 49-year-old man in 2011. The lawsuit was filed by the deceased victim’s family. Reportedly, the lawsuit is claiming undisclosed damages for medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering and loss of companionship, among other things.
News reports state that the 49-year-old man was initially admitted to another hospital after he complained of chest pains that he had allegedly been experiencing for three days. Doctors at that hospital diagnosed him with heart problems. Six days later, the man was transferred to the hospital at issue. The hospital has been named in the lawsuit because it would not supply the now-deceased man with further treatment and a possible heart transplant.
Hospital authorities initially said that the treatment would be authorized by Medicaid; however, a week later, they informed the patient that Medicaid refused to pay. The lawsuit claims that the hospital was aware that the patient would probably die without treatment but chose to ignore the situation. As a result, the man passed away due to cardiac damage and organ failure.
Incidents such as this often highlight the plight of people who are struggling to care for their loved ones but ultimately fail to do so. In many cases, there may be genuine medical reasons why a person’s life cannot be saved. However, medical malpractice in any form cannot be an acceptable reason for the loss of a loved one. Therefore, in such situations, it may be appropriate for the survivors to decide to file a lawsuit and seek justice on behalf of the loved one they lost.
Source: Louisiana Record, “Ochsner sued by family of man who died after allegedly not being able to afford proper heart treatment,” Kyle Barnett, April 3, 2015
