It is always somewhat shocking when the apparent victim of medical malpractice is a doctor, nurse or other health care professional. We should not be surprised that they are human too, fall ill and can be subjected to negligence in their treatment. It becomes even more egregious when the doctor who dies is young.

A case from Pennsylvania presents a truly tragic set of circumstances, with a young doctor, full of great promise, dying in a hospital room within weeks of finishing medical school.

The woman graduated from medical school on May 11, 2013. Shortly thereafter, she was experiencing “nagging headaches” and “unexplained bruising.”

On May 26, she was admitted to the local hospital and by May 28, her condition had begun to rapidly fail. By the morning of May 29, she was removed from life support and died. Her parents are now suing the hospital for wrongful death because of her negligent treatment.

The medical malpractice suit alleges that her misdiagnosis occurred because she entered the hospital over Memorial Day weekend, and the hospital may have been under staffed.

They alleged that the cerebral hemorrhaging, stroke and irreversible brain damage occurred because the hospital failed to detect a blood clot and properly treat it. The lawsuit claims she “languished” for days because of the holiday weekend, and that the horrific outcome was “wholly preventable.”

The hospital claims her death was due to an untreatable pre-existing condition.

Few incidents of medical malpractice are more heartbreaking for the surviving family members than a misdiagnosis, where a condition is missed by incompetence or inadvertence and leads to the unnecessary death of their loved one.

Source: The Citizens’ Voice, “Geisinger defends treatment of late doctor,” Bob Kalinowski, Feb. 4, 2014