When Fatal Medical Errors Lead to Death in NJ, Those Impacted Have Rights
In New Jersey, a wrongful death lawsuit compensates family members for losing their loved one due to the negligence or wrongful actions of another or others. As such, when a medical professional like a surgeon or their team makes an inexcusable and fatal mistake during a surgical procedure, they may be held liable to loved ones for causing the death. Depending on the circumstances of the case, a negligent doctor, healthcare provider, hospital, or other medical facility may even be held liable for any suffering and pain that the decedent experienced before their death in a survivorship claim. When fatal medical malpractice occurs in New Jersey, loved ones are well-advised to consult with a knowledgeable medical malpractice attorney to assess their rights and legal options and avoid any statutory deadlines for filing a wrongful death action.
If you lost a family member or loved one due to fatal medical mistakes, whether during surgery, in the hospital, resulting from medication-related complications, an undiagnosed condition, or a misdiagnosis that turned out to be deadly, contact the experienced New Jersey medical malpractice lawyers at Fronzuto Law Group for immediate assistance and a free review of your claim. Our medical malpractice firm is renowned for our accomplished track record of success handling fatal medical negligence claims on behalf of individuals and families who suffer the costs of the untimely deaths of those they love. We represent clients throughout the state of New Jersey, including in New Brunswick, Jersey City, Paterson, Freehold, Newark, Hackensack, Summit, and Morristown. Connect with us today at 973-435-4551.
Frequent Types of Fatal Medical Errors Resulting in Death
Death Resulting from Diagnostic Errors
Fatal medical malpractice can involve negligent diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up. For example, diagnosis involves at least three crucial components. A history and physical examination of the patient is where it begins. Common symptoms may indicate various conditions or diseases. Hence, a diligent physician begins by understanding or reviewing a patient’s medical history, such as genetic conditions, past illnesses, surgeries, and current symptoms.
When a doctor fails to consult a patient’s chart or take their history, they may miss important details critical to an accurate diagnosis. Also, the physical examination is essential to refine the diagnosis and decide which further tests are necessary. Diagnosis is often a process of elimination and a collection of information from the interview with the patient, review of their history, ordering of tests, and consultation with other medical professionals. Each step forgotten can lead to fatal consequences.
An incorrect or delayed diagnosis can result in a patient’s loss of life. For example, a misdiagnosis of bloating and stomach discomfort in a female patient as indigestion may be fatal when the correct diagnosis is ovarian cancer. The same result occurs when a physician waits too long to order tests, orders the wrong tests, misreads the results, or delays reading test results at all.
Lack of Medical Follow-Up Leading to Patient Death
The fatal medical mistake in a case may be a lack of follow-up with the patient to confirm that the medication prescribed is working, or the patient is improving, especially after surgery. Without speaking to the patient after their appointment or procedure, a physician may not know that they need to revise their diagnosis when medication is not working or the patient is not improving. They also miss the opportunity to alert the patient to symptoms that require a return visit to the office or an emergency visit to the hospital.
Communication Breakdowns in the Medical Process Causing Death
Diagnosis and follow-up errors could be due to the physician’s busy schedule or failure to fix communication problems among staff, among other reasons. The link between ordering tests, reading them, notifying patients of results, and follow-up appointments and referrals is a chain of administrative and professional staff that requires clear and efficient communication. When that communication chain breaks down, patient fatalities may result.
Communication may lead to death when instructions from a treating physician do not reach nurses, physician’s assistants, lab technicians, or other doctors, opening the possibility of medication errors, incomplete testing, and incorrect diagnoses and treatments. A nurse who has not received an updated medication change or dosage revision may contribute to the cause of a patient’s death. Similarly, advice from a consulting physician may be incorrect when they do not receive all the relevant patient records for review, leading to a wrong diagnosis or treatment recommendation. Additionally, lab technicians who receive no test orders or incorrect ones cannot assist with diagnosis and treatment.
Death Caused by Poor Sanitization and Hygiene Protocols in Medical Facilities
A medical office or hospital requires strict protocols to prevent fatal errors. Communication is part of that protocol, as is strict hygienic procedures for healthcare workers. Aside from washing hands, keeping medical equipment and tools sanitary is crucial to avoid spreading infection and contagious diseases. When protocols are missing or ignored, patients contract infections and viruses that become fatal in a body weakened by surgery or other debilitating conditions.
Malfunctioning, Outdated, and Improperly Serviced Medical Equipment Leading to Death
Failing to service or report failures in medical devices and equipment regularly can also lead to tragedy. Strict procedures for recognizing a malfunctioning device, tagging it as defective, and reporting it to the proper personnel are essential to keeping the device out of use and safely away from patients. Implanting a defective pacemaker that the FDA recalled without the hospital staff’s knowledge can lead to a patient’s cardiac arrest. Likewise, daily maintenance failures can lead to ventilators or heart rate monitors failing and patients subsequently dying as a result.
Fatal Medical Mistakes Involving Surgery
Another fatal error from protocol failure is obtaining patient consent for a procedure or surgery. Patients may not understand the risks they undertake in surgery without informed consent. Anesthesia risks are higher for patients with certain conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, allergies, and adverse reactions to anesthesia. Thus, an anesthesiologist who fails to note a patient’s history of anesthesia allergies and a surgeon who fails to obtain patient consent for the surgery (an opportunity for the patient to reveal their allergies and concerns) may be liable for the patient’s death when they suffer a fatal reaction on the operating table. Anesthesiologists may also be liable for overdosing patients by giving too much medication.
Surgical errors are also a leading cause of patient deaths when surgeons leave surgical equipment or other foreign objects inside of a patient during surgery, accidentally slice a nearby blood vessel or organ, operate on the wrong body part, or leave a diseased body part in place. Fatal medical malpractice also occurs when surgeons and their staff operate on the wrong patient or perform the incorrect procedure. For example, perhaps a person who needs a malignant tumor removed, but gets a gallbladder removed, may die of cancer.
Fatal Medication-Related Negligence Resulting in Death
Other deadly medication errors include giving a patient the wrong medication, an incorrect dose, or a fatal mixture of pharmaceuticals. For example, a physician who prescribes medication without consulting the patient’s chart risks medicating the patient with a lethal drug, according to their allergy history or their current medications fatally interacting with other medications. They may also prescribe the wrong dosage based on an incorrect patient chart containing vital statistics, such as height, weight, blood pressure, and heart rate.
Fatal Medical Errors Causing Death of an Infant or Mother
Birth injuries all too commonly lead to fetal and newborn deaths when obstetricians misuse birth instruments to assist with a difficult birth, wait too long to perform a cesarean, poorly plan or prepare for the appropriate delivery of a child, or fail to detect a fetus in distress. Pregnant women also tragically die when their doctors fail to treat dangerous conditions before delivery, such as preeclampsia and untreated gestational diabetes.
Legal Claims for Fatal Medical Malpractice / Wrongful Death in NJ
When medical malpractice results in a fatality, a spouse, child, or other loved one may file a wrongful death lawsuit. To prove medical negligence supporting a wrongful death action, the plaintiff must establish a doctor-patient relationship from which a physician (or other medical professionals) owed a patient a duty of due care. Then, the plaintiff must show that the physician breached the duty by acting negligently, meaning below an acceptable standard of practice when compared with other similarly educated, trained, experienced, and situated medical professionals. Another element to prove is causation, meaning that the negligence caused the death or similarly, caused an injury or complication that led to death. The final element is to connect the death with economic and non-economic losses, which means that the death must be shown to result in damages.
Statutory Requirements to File a Medical Malpractice Wrongful Death Claim in New Jersey
New Jersey requires the vast majority of victims of medical malpractice to file their claims, including wrongful death actions, within two years of the death of the fatal medical negligence victim. After that date, you lose your claim, as it is barred after the statute of limitations tolls. For this reason, it is imperative to discuss your case with a lawyer who can help you meet filing and other deadlines in the legal process along the life of your claim.
New Jersey Attorneys Dedicated to Those Affected by Fatal Medical Malpractice
At Fronzuto Law Group, our talented New Jersey medical malpractice attorneys are there for you when it is time to file a wrongful death claim. With extensive experience handling legal claims for fatal medical errors in New Jersey, we have the forethought, insight, and tactical skill to prove your case. We thoroughly understand and know how to gather the evidence necessary to obtain a compensatory award for the lost income, companionship, medical expenses, and other losses accumulated due to your loved one’s passing.
Our medical malpractice and wrongful death lawyers will listen to your story about what happened, review medical records, consult with medical experts, assemble a comprehensive case against those negligent in your loved one’s death, guide you through the legal process, and represent you ardently in pursuing compensation for your damages. If you have been affected by a fatal medical malpractice case that caused the death of someone you love, contact us for a free consultation. Call 973-435-4551 to speak with a member of our team regarding your loved one’s case.
