Injury/Wrongful Death Claim: Professional Negligence
Our client was mother of an adult son who had suffered from polio his entire life. Although quadriplegic, he was able to survive using a ventilator that supplied air through a hole in his throat. Even though he was physically challenged, he was able to attend classes with assistance funded by his church. He had a good sense of humor, love of life, and fondness for people.
Our client’s son required frequent suctioning of his lungs to keep him from suffocating on mucous. Because he could not breathe on his own, the ventilator sounded an alarm when enough air was not being pumped into his lungs. This happened when the breathing tube in his throat was removed or malfunctioned, when his lungs needed suctioning, and when after suctioning, the tube was not properly reinserted in the hole in his throat. The alarm was vital to his life.
Our client had to have surgery which required her to place her son (then 43) in a care facility specifically for high maintenance patients. While at the care facility, our client’s son died from lack of oxygen. His breathing tube had not been properly inserted, but the staff was unaware of this because they had turned off his ventilator alarm to keep it from disturbing other patients at night.
We represented our client for the wrongful death of her son. Through discovery we proved that the care facility staff had turned off the ventilator alarm. We obtained a substantial settlement for our client. As part of our case we pursued and were successful in having fines imposed against the facility for regulatory violations.