Medical Malpractice Verdict of $5 Million for Death from an Improperly Placed Feeding Tube
On May 18, 2016, a jury in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, awarded $5 million to the family of a man who died at Abington Memorial Hospital in 2008 from having had a feeding tube misplaced in his lung.
Marvin Summerford, who was 88-years-old, died a horrifying death in 2008 as his left lung slowly filled with fluid that should have been flowing into his stomach. Over the period of 12 hours, while Mr. Summerford was conscious and restrained in his bed, his lung was being filled with fluid, which caused him to slowly drown. The patient was given a feeding tube because he suffered from dementia and had no gag reflex or ability to swallow food.
Mr. Summerford had been transported from a nursing home to Abington Hospital for frequent fainting episodes. Once in the hospital he was given a feeding tube, which he pulled out. After restraining him, doctors replaced the feeding tune and verified with an x-ray that it had been improperly placed, so a third tube was inserted into what the doctor thought was Mr. Summerfield’s stomach. Placement was checked using an x-ray, which was misread by the doctor. Instead of being inserted into his stomach, the feeding tube had been inserted into his left lung. By the time hospital staff realized that something was wrong with the patient, they were unable to resuscitate him. The medical professionals on staff for the 12 hours that the patient was in painful distress while he was being drowned by the feeding solution, failed to recognize that he was in trouble until it was too late according to Philly.com.
While this is clearly a blatant case of medical negligence, not all medical malpractice cases are quite so clear cut, and not all medical procedures with an unfavorable outcome can be considered medical malpractice. The basic requirement for medical malpractice is that the physician or other medical professional has breached the accepted standard of care for their specialty in their geographic area, and that the breach caused harm to the patient. Doctors, as human beings, make mistakes every day, but if their mistake does not result in injury or harm to the patient, there are no grounds for legal action.
A Washington, D.C. medical malpractice attorney from the law firm of Paulson & Nace, PLLC can investigate medical malpractice claims and hold the negligent medical professional responsible. There is no financial risk for you as they will not charge any legal fees unless they win compensation for you. Please call 202-463-1999 or fill out this contact form to learn more.
For more than 40 years, Barry J. Nace has worked to protect the rights of victims of medical malpractice and other personal injuries. Throughout his career, he has proven that multimillion-dollar awards are not a matter of luck, but the result of experience, hard work, outstanding trial skills, and an unquestioned dedication to justice. To date, Mr. Nace has produced dozens of verdicts and settlements in excess of $1 million with three in excess of $30 million. Read more about Barry J. Nace.