Attorney
Radiologist Found to Have Misdiagnosed Man
Medical professionals who unreasonably take action or fail to take action and negatively affect your health as a result can be liable for medical malpractice. Medical malpractice covers a variety of claims that includes birth injuries, misdiagnoses, failures to diagnose at all, medication errors, or negligent behavior on the part of the healthcare professional.
A jury in Fairfax County recently awarded nearly $3 million to the family of a man who died after his esophagus tore while he was swallowing a piece of steak. The Court reduced the award to $1.25 million because of a cap on medical malpractice judgments in Virginia. The family had sued an Alexandria radiologist for misdiagnosing the man’s problem as hiatal hernia. The man, Hector Alvarez, took a bite out of a steak he had just barbecued and felt like the steak was stuck in his throat. He complained of chest pains and trouble swallowing. Medication to decrease Alvarez’s pain was not effective. In the afternoon of the next day, a surgeon looked at Alvarez’s CT scan and saw that he had a perforated esophagus. Just before the surgeon was going to operate, Alvarez went into cardiac arrest and died.
Victims of medical malpractice have only a limited time in which to file a lawsuit. The time starts to run on the date of the injury. Successful medical malpractice lawsuits may be able to recover medical expenses incurred because of the malpractice as well as loss of income, pain and suffering, and other financial losses resulting from the negligence of a healthcare professional.
The experienced medical malpractice lawyers, such as Northern Virginia personal injury attorney Julie H. Heiden, at Koonz, McKenney, Johnson & DePaolis L.L.P. are Virginia personal injury lawyers ready to fight for your rights and recover compensation for your injuries. If you or a loved one has suffered any injuries that were a result of medical malpractice or other negligent medical acts, please Northern contact a Virginia personal injury attorney at Koonz, McKenney, Johnson & DePaolis L.L.P.