George Washington University Hospital recently came under fire in a lawsuit alleging it failed to treat a patient’s stroke.
The GW Hospital is being sued by a couple over allegations that it neglected to treat Donald Lindo Black’s stroke. As a result, Donald and his wife, and Selica Gordan-Black, claim the hospital’s negligence hurt them both financially and emotionally.
According to the lawsuit, which was filed in D.C. Superior Court, Mr. Black was rushed to GW Hospital after “D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services personnel found him in an altered mental state in his car in 2016.” The suit states that “D.C. FEMS paramedics found Lindo Black in a damaged car in downtown D.C. on Oct. 21, 2016, at about 3:51 p.m…Lindo Black’s pupils were ‘equal,’ and he had a normal glucose level but could not talk.” It further states:
“On assessment, Mr. Black was able to follow simple commands. By cardiac monitor he was in normal rhythm and was able to follow simple commands. However, he was unable to speak.”
After the quick assessment, Mr. Black was rushed to GW Hospital for further treatment. Upon arriving at the hospital, another assessment noted that “his right pupil became larger than his left pupil after he arrived at the hospital.” A little over an hour after arriving at the hospital, Mr. Black underwent a CT scan, but never “received proper care for his condition,” according to the complaint. It states:
“There is no indication in the medical record from the time of admission to the GW Hospital emergency department that Mr. Black received any neurological evaluation by GW Hospital emergency department health care providers as would be commensurate with the standards of care including determination of his NIH scale, among other things.”
After the CT scan, his medical team then tried to conduct an MRI, though Mr. Black was moving around too much for it to be successful. Two hours later, he was given a sedative and another MRI was attempted. It was then that his “oxygen levels began to rapidly deteriorate after he received the sedative, and he was admitted to the hospital’s emergency department,” according to the suit.
As a result of the ordeal, the couple is accusing the hospital of “one count of medical malpractice, two counts of vicarious liability against the GW Hospital and the Medical Faculty Associates and one count of loss of consortium, meaning the situation strained the couple’s relationship,” according to the complaint.
This isn’t the first time the hospital has been accused of malpractice within the last year. In fact, just last summer the hospital was sued four times in the U.S. District Court and the D.C. Superior Court. Three of those cases involved medical malpractice allegations.
Sources:
Couple sues GW Hospital for malpractice after husband has stroke
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