Annapolis Personal Injury Law Blog
A police detective who was seriously injured in a car accident and was given pain medication apparently died from receiving too much of the medication. Now, that man’s widow is seeking legal retribution. Similarly, when a Maryland resident suffers due to a victim’s medical provider’s proven negligence, he or she is typically entitled to file a medical malpractice suit against the responsible party or parties.
The victim was a 54-year-old man and a 12-year veteran of a local police department. He was in the process of responding to the site of a fatal accident when another vehicle hit his parked vehicle head-on. He suffered a considerable number of broken bones and had to undergo numerous surgeries, as a result.
While the man lay recovering in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit, he received pain medication, according to the suit. He was thought to be progressing and recuperating when, seemingly out of the blue, he died on Jan. 30, 2015. The medical staff considered his cause of death to likely be an “embolic event,” which occurs when blood flow is obstructed by a clot. However, after a Chief Medical Examiner performed his autopsy and toxicology results were run, the medical examiner determined that this was not the case — lethal levels of the narcotic pain medication oxycodone were found in his system — and that the man’s death was caused, in fact, by oxycodone intoxication.
The suit, which was recently filed on behalf of the man’s wife against the University of Tennessee Medical Center, as well as University Health System, Inc., is seeking $7.5 million in damages. Similarly, a successfully presented medical malpractice claim may result in a judgment for financial damages sustained. When Maryland residents suffer similar outcomes, they typically seek to contact counsel in order to assess the validity of their claims. Legal counsel can then advocate on their behalf in pursuing claims for financial relief.
Source: knoxnews.com, “Lawsuit: Jacksboro detective given fatal overdose at UT Medical Center“, Jamie Satterfield, April 15, 2016
