$3.5 Million Settlement by Hospital for Delayed Treatment of Brain Bleed

A 38 year old man presented to a hospital emergency room with a complaint of severe headaches. A CT scan of the brain showed a subdural hematoma or brain bleed. The patient was admitted to the hospital and cared for by physicians employed by the state of Florida and therefore protected by the state’s sovereign immunity laws. Over the next three days the patient complained of intermittent headache, blurred vision, eye pain, and photophobia. The hospital physicians concentrated on trying to determine the cause of the bleed rather than treat the bleed itself. After the third day, a repeat CT scan showed the patient had suffered a new brain bleed which caused his brain to slightly shift. The physicians continued to search for the cause of the bleed hoping it would self absorb rather than surgically evacuate the hematoma. Three days later the pressure caused by the subdural hematoma caused a brainstem herniation. The patient was then taken to emergency surgery and the hematoma was evacuated. Unfortunately, the effects of the brainstem herniation could not be reversed . The patient is now a quadriplegic. A civil action against the hospital for delayed treatment of the subdural hematoma resulted in a settlement of $3.5 million dollars.