Your knee or your life

I read with interest an article about a medical malpractice case involving a 42-year-old woman who died sa a result of outpatient knee surgery. Yes, you read that correctly–outpatient knee surgery, the arthroscopic kind so many people get. The patient, Ruby Nicole Quarles, developed blood clots and died of a pulmonary embolism the day after her surgery. The medical malpractice lawsuit was filed by Quarles’s husband and named the orthopedic surgeon and his employer, Chattahoochee Valley Bone and Joint Inc.

The suit contends that the surgeon ignored the patient’s medical conditions and was negligent. The patient had a number of high-risk conditions, including obesity, hypertension, asthma, and more. These were not properly addressed, according to the plaintiff.

Though the formation of blood clots following arthroscopic surgery is very low, the jury sided with the plaintiff, awarding Quarles $6 million.

This was posted on Monday, November 16th, 2009 and is filed in the Legal, Patient Death categories.