In May, following a one week medical malpractice trial in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, a jury returned a verdict of One Million Dollars in favor of the two sons of a woman who died as a result of an allergic reaction to dye used during a medical procedure. The plaintfffs alleged that the women had a history of severe allergies to bee stings and should not have had the dye. A copy of the article regarding the case can be found here.
Two years earlier, the woman had visited a cardiologist complaining of chest pain. Testing revealed a normal-sized heart and a normal functioning heart, but did indicate mild hardening of the heart tissue. Despite the hardening tissue, there was no significant narrowing of her vessels, a symptom which would indicate a likelihood of heart disease. The cardiologist recommended a cardiac catheterization anyway and the procedure ultimately led to this medical malpractice suit.
In their medical malpractice complaint, the sons alleged that, in light of their mother’s medical history, the cardiac catheterization procedure which uses contrast dye to evaluate heart functioning should have never been performed because prior testing indicated such a low likelihood of heart disease.
Despite the precautions undertaken by the cardiologist because of the woman’s history of severe allergic reactions to bee stings, the woman suffered respiratory arrest as soon as she was given the dye. The medical malpractice complaint alleged that the precautions, which included two doses of prednisone and two doses of Benadryl, were insufficient because the cardiologist failed to identify the extent of her tolerance for the dye used in the procedure.
It takes an experienced Baltimore, Maryland medical malpractice lawyer to successfully bring a medical malpractice or wrongful death case in circumstances where the patient required a special duty of care and extra precautions. These cases require expertise that most general personal injury attorneys do not have and are often very complex. I have handled several cases involving allergic reactions to medication. To see some of the cases I have handled, click here.