The Canadian woman became a quadruple amputee after contracting a flesh-eating disease. She now faces a kidney transplant.
The claim alleges that the plaintiff was sent home from the IWK Health Centre but continued to suffer from a series of complications. The following day, when she returned to the Hospital, she was again allegedly dismissed without further examination. The lawsuit alleges that the doctors failed to remove part of her placenta during her child’s birth. It took another follow up visit for doctors to realize this after she experienced an excruciating amount of pain.
Her fiancé has reportedly quit his job to help care for her and their newborn son. The plaintiff in this case, who remains hospitalized, required amputations below her knees and below her elbows as well as an operation to remove her uterus. The lawsuit states that a proper assessment of her condition before she was discharged from the hospital would have prevented “a substantial part of the damage, if not all of it.”
Her child was born on March 2, but when she returned to the hospital on March 5 complaining of abdominal pain, she was never examined. The doctors simply diagnosed her with constipation. Despite all that she has undergone, she remains positive. Fortunately, the amputations took care of the flesh-eating infection, but she still faces more major surgeries.
Had this injury occurred in the U.S., an earlier version of the GOP Healthcare Bill which failed to pass, contained a provision that would have limited her damages, for the loss of enjoyment of life to only $250,000 for medical malpractice lawsuits. However, this law did not pass and tort law remains left in the hands of state legislatures as it traditionally has been.
This incredibly sad story reflects a worst nightmare for many people who undergo surgery. If you believe a doctor or hospital has failed to provide an appropriate level of care, you may be entitled to money based on a medical malpractice suit. Medical malpractice or medical negligence is simply the term for when a doctor or healthcare provider (hospital) fails to provide care that reaches the level of the accepted standards of the medical profession and this failure results in an injury to a patient. This unfortunate woman has filed a lawsuit against the hospital and her doctors after she lost all of her limbs after giving birth. However, with such devastating injuries, no amount of money will ever be able to truly compensate her for what she has lost.