Sunday, March 8, 2009

Left brain-damaged woman awarded $5 million medical compensation

This is a medical lawsuit involving hospital malpractice in Allegany County Pennsylvania. The jury ordered the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center to pay $5 million to a left brain-damaged woman after she was given eight times the correct dose of sodium required to correct a chemical imbalance.

Plaintiff was diagnosed with an electrolyte deficiency and low sodium after a visit to the emergency room, her medical attorneys said. The hospital's treatment plan was to slowly correct her low sodium. However they accidentally gave her a dosage eight times the amount she should have received.

The sodium overload caused permanent brain damage that has prevented plaintiff from returning to work, impaired her speech and made walking difficult, according to her medical lawyers. She now requires in-home care from her daughter and had a "long recovery period in South Side Hospital and a nursing home, her medical attorneys added.

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