Louisiana

Billy Arrington

Susan Arrington brought her husband, Billy, to their primary doctor because he was having trouble breathing. Their doctor determined that Billy needed to be hospitalized. Their doctor was not authorized to admit patients into the only hospital that Billy's health insurance would cover, so he wrote a note and sent the Arrington's to the ER with directions to admit Billy for tests. The ER doctor that saw Billy was in his 30th hour of working in the ER. That doctor did not conduct the tests Billy needed, nor did he write any notes as to what Billy's X-rays showed. Instead, he sent Billy home. As a result, the doctor failed to diagnose a pulmonary embolism and blood clotting in the lungs. Billy passed away 70 hours later in the same ER, after being brought back in by an ambulance.

When Susan was told by the ER doctor that her husband was dead, he remarked that Billy was a very sick man and should have been admitted to the hospital days prior.

Daphne Leray
Houma, LA

Daphne was brought to the ER after being in a car accident. The paramedics on the scene immediately stabilized her by putting her in a neck and back brace. The ER doctor and Neurosurgeon took an X-Ray, but failed to administer a CAT scan. The X-Rays were of poor quality but still revealed a possible problem warranting further investigation and another round of X-Rays. However, the doctors made the decision to remove her neck brace without taking any further X-Rays. Soon thereafter, Daphne experienced multiple seizures. An MRI was then administered revealing that she had been brought into the ER with a broken neck. Tests revealed that had she remained in the brace, she would not have suffered permanent paralysis. Despite being paralyzed from the chest down, Daphne has managed to graduate from college. She currently is a graduate student.

August 2004