In 2009, an 8-year-old girl died from complications caused by the H1N1 influenza virus, which was also known as swine flu. After years of litigation, her family was awarded $8 million in damages.
In late August 2009, the child was brought by her mother to a pediatrician. The child’s symptoms were coughing, sneezing, sore throat, and a fever of 100.2. The mother reported that her daughter had been sick for two days, and was a high risk for flu complications .The child was born prematurely, with a medical history of respiratory complications. The pediatrician diagnosed the child with sinusitis and wrote prescriptions for an antibiotic, an inhaler, and a decongestant, despite the child had a history of allergic reactions to the prescribed antibiotic.
The child’s condition continued to deteriorate, and her mother sought treatment from two separate pediatricians. At that time, the child tested positive for Influenza A, but was discharged without treatment or a prescription for an antiviral medication.
When the child grew even more ill, her mother took her back to the original pediatrician, who prescribed treatment of fluids, Tylenol, and a continuation of the medications already prescribed. A few days later, the child was breathing at 60 breaths per minute and was sent to the emergency room. The average person’s blood oxygen level is between 95 and 100 percent. A low reading considered anything under 90. The child’s blood oxygen level was reading 67%.
Eight days after the child’s initial visit to her pediatrician, she was prescribed the antiviral medication Tamiflu. At this point, the child had developed pneumonia and was in acute respiratory distress. Two days later, the child was put on a ventilator and she passed away the following day.
The mother filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the two pediatricians who examined her daughter. She claimed that the physicians were negligent in failing to properly diagnose her child. Therefore, the doctors failed to treat her with life-saving antiviral medication, even after it became clear that she had the flu.
The medical review panel that was convened in 2011 and found no wrongdoing on the part of the pediatricians. The three-person panel of physicians found that the doctors acted reasonably under the circumstances. They reasoned that the pediatrician did not err when failing to order an influenza test at the child’s first visit. Furthermore, a Tamiflu prescription was not mandated at the time of this case. The panel absolved the second physician from wrongdoing because the child’s chest x-ray had come back clear. The panel concluded that both pediatrician acted with a reasonable standard of care.
It was not a startling finding. Between 2000 and 2014, the panels in Louisiana sided in favor of the patient only 7 percent of the time, according to statistics provided by Ken Schnauder, executive director of the Louisiana Patient’s Compensation Fund. In 43 percent of the cases, the panel rendered a decision in favor of the health care provider. In another 48 percent of the cases, the panels came to no conclusion. Schnauder said that’s often because either the cases are settled out of court, or the allowable time period expires
In these type of cases, medical experts are essential in disproving the findings of review panels. A highly qualified and credentialed medical expert can prove that a physician’s actions deviated from a reasonable standard of care. The plaintiff’s ability to show that both pediatricians failed in their duties, resulted in the awarded $8 million in damages to the mother.
