Failure to diagnose leads to fatal case of whooping cough

On Behalf of | May 21, 2018 | Failure to Diagnose |

When a young child appears to be ill in Oregon his or her parent will usually take the child to a doctor. A parent will have faith in the doctor’s ability to diagnose what ails the child. Failure to diagnose an ailment is not the expected outcome.

A young mother took her infant to the doctor and requested that the baby be tested for pertussis, also known as whooping cough. The doctor declined to perform the test. The mother was also experiencing symptoms. Whooping cough is a common childhood illness.

Repeated requests to have the test run on subsequent visits were also denied. The child’s health continued to decline, and the child eventually died. The baby was only 32 days old and was not yet old enough to receive the vaccine against whooping cough. The mother filed a civil claim against the doctors for failing to diagnose her child accurately. The mother was recently awarded a large settlement.

The sudden death of a child is one of life’s most traumatic experiences.  When such a death is perceived to have been preventable due to a failure to diagnose an illness, parents may want to seek legal recourse. A conversation with a knowledgeable personal injury attorney in Oregon may be helpful at such a time. An experienced attorney may be able to advise a client on what avenues for legal recourse are available. A successfully litigated medical malpractice claim may result in compensation for medical expenses, final costs and other applicable financial damages.

Source: ydr.com, “Central Pa. mom gets $4M in medical malpractice suit for baby’s death“, Candy Woodall, May 17, 2018