In 2022, our 10 year old client was Covid positive. But his mother called into the nursing hotline for his medical provider that in addition to his coughing, congestion and fatigue, the boy was also demonstrating general right sided weakness. He was dragging his right leg, losing use of his right hand and arm, and drooling from the right side of his mouth. But the nurse and the child’s pediatrician missed these clear signs of potential stroke or other brain involvement, and told the family it was not necessary to bring the child in for further evaluation.
After several days went by, the boy’s symptoms became worse, but the physician continued to advise that it was not necessary to bring him in. On day four, the boy was non-responsive. His parents brought him into the emergency room on their own. A CT scan taken at the hospital immediately showed the child was experiencing a bleeding brain cavernoma, which is a cluster of abnormal, thin-walled blood vessels in the brain, and had been undetected until this time. Due to the delay in treatment, the minor will suffer from significant cognitive impairment.
Nursing and pediatric medical experts retained by our office were prepared to testify that Failure to direct the family to bring the minor in on the day the right sided symptoms were first reported was an egregious breach of the standard of care. The issue as to whether the neurological impairments would have been significantly less severe had the cavernoma been treated on day 1 vs. day 4 was vigorously disputed. But due to the degree of the injury, and the dramatic failure to direct the family to bring our client in on day 1 of his right-sided symptoms, the case resolved in mediation for $5,000,000.