A New Jersey appellate court recently upheld the decision that an emergency room doctor offered an inaccurate diagnosis of a boy whose mother had kicked him in the throat. The court maintained that the doctor behaved in a negligent manner, failing to alert the appropriate specialists who might have otherwise treated the boy’s injuries. The doctor’s medical negligence was said to have contributed to the boy’s death.
The 14-year-old boy had come to the emergency room because of excruciating neck pain. While his neck was not bleeding and the swelling not extreme, the boy screamed in pain and exhibited high blood pressure. Though the doctor did order a CAT scan for the boy, it was determined in court that he did not report the scan results to the proper medical professionals in a timely manner. The court ruled that the doctor’s negligence led to the 14-year-old’s death.
In 2009, the family of the victim as awarded $2.38 million in compensation for their loss. At that time, a jury found that the doctor did not perform up to accepted standards of medical practice, committed doctor error and failed to prove that the boy’s injuries were fatal regardless of the doctor’s diagnosis. He appealed the verdict, and recently the appellate court determined that the jury’s decision was correct and that the compensation awarded to the family was accurate.
The boy’s mother was convicted for the assault of her son. She served a total of 29 months in a New Jersey prison, and was released from prison about three years prior to this most recent court decision.
After learning that his son waited for several hours in the hospital while doctors failed to diagnose his injuries, the divorced father of the boy sought compensation for his loss. Attorneys for the boy’s father conducted an investigation of the circumstances that led to the death. Finding negligence, they sought justice for a family that had surely suffered enough.
Source: “Court upholds $2.4 million malpractice award in death of Bergen boy kicked by mom,” Jerry Demarco, Nov. 17, 2011
