Tabitha Mullings is suing Brooklyn Hospital Center after a “medical mistake” allegedly led to the loss of all of her limbs during a visit over a simple kidney stone. Mullings was sent home with painkillers, leaving an infection untreated due to the failure to have a blood test performed. She collapsed in a matter of days into a semi-coma, only to wake without any arms or legs.
The 32-year-old mother of three is suing the hospital for $100 million dollars.
This form of alleged malpractice is perhaps the most common — particularly with HMOs and hospitals cutting back on tests and staff in some areas. The failure to diagnosis infection or cancer can raise difficult legal questions in terms of cause in fact. However, in Herskovits v. Group Health Cooperative (1983), doctors were still liable for the negligent failure to diagnose lung cancer — causing a 14% reduction in chance of survival. They were liable for the reduction of survivability, even though the patient had less than a 50% chance to live.
This case will be more difficult for the hospital since, presumably, this infection could have been treated without loss of life or limb. It will come down to whether a reasonable physician would have ordered tests in such a circumstance.
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While it seems an obvious case of negligence, the physicians met the official standard of care. Only a urinalysis is absolutely required in these cases as recommended in the medical textbooks and her urine report showed no infection. A blood test may or may not have helped. Even if an infection had been suspected, there is no guarantee that the antibiotic chosen initially would have been adequate or even helpful.
Still, this type of case sttrongly suggests that some type of antibiotic should be used in all cases of kidnedy stones just to prevent this type of catastrophic but rare outcome.
Bob and Sally,
I agree with both of your comments. This case is a horrible story. Her life was taken away from her and she was left a shell of her old self.
Wow, that is just horrible. I don’t even think $100 million can ever make up for the fact that she will never be able to hold her kids in her arms or take them on walks, dance at their weddings….I can type more, but that would take up too much space.
I hope the hospital doors are closed in this case.
Four words: “Jesus H. Christ chief.”
I can’t imagine that this woman isn’t going to be successful in a lawsuit against the hospital. The fact that a simple blood test would have prevented this awful conclusion, is very telling. Just wheel this woman into a courtroom and I believe a jury would not hesitate to give her what she asked for. If I was the medical malpractice carrier, I would be trying to settle this one asap.