Texas Medical Malpractice Attorney | Case Settled For Death Caused by Medical Malpractice

Case Settled For Death Caused By Medical Malpractice

The family of a Texas woman who died after aspirating on a nasal pack recently settled their claim for $350,000. The woman was only 29 years old and the incident occurred while she was recovering from a surgery. Joella Johnson had several different procedures performed in 2007, according to OutpatientSurgery.com, but eventually died in recovery.

In Johnson's case, her procedures finished with the attending surgeon packing her nostrils with surgical sponges, according to the article. These sponges were secured with sutures. During the recovery process, the anesthesiologist performed a procedure called a deep extubation, which is believed to be what caused the sutures to fail. The sponge eventually ended up in the patient's windpipe.

The doctors tried to save the woman, but complications arose from the aspiration and she died shortly thereafter. The packing was found in the woman's throat. The family sued over the incident and settled for $350,000 in damages.

Wrongful Deaths and Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice claims, unfortunately, sometimes involve a death that should not have occurred, such as Joella Johnson's case. The family has the option to sue for these incidents in certain cases and, with the help of a good lawyer, sometimes manage to get a jury award or a settlement in compensation for their loss.

The hardest part of these cases is trying to put a price on the loss of someone's life. The lawyers help the families to do this and they take into account many different factors. It's not an arbitrary number and much of the figure is derived from the expenses the family has and will have to endure. In many cases, these awards and jury settlements keep the family from ending up in a much worse financial situation on top of the tremendous losses they've already suffered.

Contact an Attorney

Physician malpractice, as this and many other cases readily establish, can be deadly. A medical malpractice attorney helps families to recover the financial damage from these incidents which, despite the loss of the person being the worst possible scenario, is still an important factor for the family. Attorneys can work with you to determine whether or not you have this option if your family was the victim of one sort of malpractice or another, whether or not it resulted in the death of a loved one. The pain, suffering and tremendous expenses that these cases can result in are oftentimes too much for the family to face on their own.