40 year-old father Lazaro Rodriguez died in what could prove to be a case of doctor negligence. His wife attempted CPR and called 911, but Rodriguez was pronounced DOA (dead on arrival) at the hospital.
It had not even been three days since he had received treatment for chest pains at Delray Medical Center. The center and one of its doctors are now involved in a lawsuit over the incident, as well as over a similar but unrelated heart attack death.
The Malpractice Lawsuit
Rodriguez’s widow feels that he did not receive competent care in the Delray Medical Center Emergency Room. The lawsuit lists Dr. Fernando Rivera, a radiologist, and Dr. Rodolfo Carrillo-Jimenez, a cardiologist.
According to the suit, Rivera did not properly read the results of Rodriguez’s CTA. A CTA is used to check for blocked arteries and other potential threats to a patient’s heart. According to the suit, Rivera listed the reading as a normal result, when the result was in fact abnormal.
Highly Irresponsible Cardiac Care
But that, really, is the least of the malpractice suit. The suit also claims that Dr. Carrillo-Jimenez let Rodriguez go from the hospital when Rodriguez should have stayed instead.
The suit also claims that that doctor stopped the patient’s heart medicine too early, sending the patient home with nothing but ibuprofen and aspirin.
What makes the doctor appeared be even more negligent is the fact that he sent Rodriguez home when Rodriguez showed high levels of troponin–something that usually indicates heart attack or other trauma.
Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire
Dr. Carrillo-Jimenez and the Delray Medical Center have also been named in another lawsuit. The suit claims that the doctor mismanaged a woman’s blood thinners, which resulted in two heart attacks that killed her. The heart attacks occurred within four days of her visit to the ER.
In today’s world of medical malpractice and limited accountability, it is up to family and loved ones to seek justice for themselves with an experienced medical malpractice lawyer.
This provides more than just personal or family justice. It helps to keep doctors accountable, and reminds hospitals and other medical centers to keep a close eye on their professionals.