Jury Sides With Defendants in Florida Medical Malpractice Case Involving Child’s Death

A jury in Fort Myers,Florida,returned a verdict in favor of the defendants in a medical malpractice trial concerning the death of a seven-year-old child. Kevin O’Connor of the miami office represented the defendants.

The plaintiff alleged that healthcare providers failed to diagnose a bacterial infection when the minor was brought to the emergency department. Specifically, the plaintiff contended that a nurse practitioner neglected to order laboratory studies that would have identified a bacterial infection, despite the availability of such orders within the electronic medical record.

The plaintiff argued that this failure to test led to a misdiagnosis of a viral syndrome instead of bacterial meningitis. This, they claimed, resulted in a delay of treatment and ultimately the child’s death from bacterial meningitis and an empyema, a collection of pus in the brain’s subdural space.

The defense countered that the nurse practitioner’s diagnosis of a viral syndrome was appropriate. They asserted that insufficient clinical signs and symptoms of infection, let alone bacterial meningitis, were present during the child’s evaluation.

Moreover, the defense highlighted that the child was discharged with instructions for his mother to return in two days for a fever recheck. The child was not brought back but rather sent to school.

Following six days of trial and seven hours of deliberation, the jury agreed with the defense’s position.