Coroner Revises Report on Death of Patient, Does not Resolve Mystery
When a man came back to the town where he grew up to see his mother, aged 85, for the first time in several years, he found her in an awful state. Weighing over 200 pounds, the weight was heavy on the frame of the former nurse and department store model, and it combined with ulcers on her legs and bodily swelling to keep her from managing stairs or even get out of bed. Concerned for her health, he checked her into a hospital.
With all her children living out of town, the woman, who feared hospitals and refused to move into a nursing home, had withdrawn from all activities, and survived on the charity of her neighbors, who cooked meals and brought them to her. Her son thought he was doing the right thing by checking her into a hospital for care of her condition. Three days later on September 13, she was dead. According to the coroner's original report, she died of a traumatic brain injury that led to bleeding in the brain, an injury she received at home on September 10. Now the coroner has changed the date the injury was received to September 12, when she was in Euclid hospital.
She had fallen on the 10th, but as part of her admission to the hospital, she was given a CAT scan, which showed no injuries. However, when she died her body was scraped and bruised, on her lips, face, chest, upper arms, and elsewhere, in addition to the blunt trauma to the head. But her hospital record shows mention of a fall or other injury. The question is how could a patient who, according to a statement by the hospital, "was being carefully monitored because she was on a blood thinner," possibly sustain an injury of this magnitude without anyone knowing? At the best, this is medical negligence. At the worst, the woman may have been the victim of an attack by hospital personnel.
If one of your relatives has suffered wrongful death after being left in the care of a hospital, contact an experienced wrongful death attorney at Pomerantz, Perlberger, and Lewis, LLP today for a free initial consultation.
