On January 23, 2024, on a sunny day after a long absence, our center received a special gift, and the family of Mr. Ma, the client, sent a pennant with the words "Quality Service, Relieve Worries for the People" to Fan Rong and Liao Yunxiao of Yunnan Tianwaitian Law Firm's Big Health Legal Service Center, thanking the lawyers of our center for their dedication and professional, efficient and high-quality legal services.
This is the first pennant received by the Great Health Legal Service Center in 2024!
【Event Review】
Mr. Ma was hospitalized for a traffic accident and was diagnosed with a severe head injury. After the treatment, Mr. Ma's condition improved significantly.
On May 12, 2021, after the ward round, the doctor said that the patient's condition had improved significantly, and the head CT would be rechecked, and if the intracranial fluid did not increase, he could be discharged.
On May 13, 2021, without any preoperative examination, the doctor directly performed a puncture of the subscalp fluid accumulation on the patient, which caused Mr. Ma's cerebral hemorrhage. After that, Mr. Ma fell into a coma with his eyes open......
On June 10, 2023, Mr. Ma was announced clinically dead due to the gradual deterioration of his condition.
After communicating with the hospital, the hospital said that the two parties had a big dispute and could not negotiate, so they could only take the judicial route. So, Mr. Ma's son found our center through a friend's introduction.
In the end, with the efforts of the lawyer handling the case, the hospital assumed 100% responsibility!
Recalling the process of handling the case, lawyer Fan Rong was deeply touched.
I think the most important point in this case is the determination of the causal relationship between the hospital's fault and the patient's death. Although after the judicial appraisal of medical negligence, it was clear that the "subscalp puncture" performed by the hospital was the direct cause of the complications of cerebral hemorrhage that caused Mr. Ma, which was ultimately the result of the damage of "coma with his eyes open", because there was no record of the subdural effusion before the puncture on May 13, 2021 (including the results of physical examination and auxiliary examination), nor was there any record of communicating and informing about the condition of this operation. Therefore, there is no way to determine fault and causal involvement in the puncture of subscalp fluid in hospitals. However, at the beginning of the first-instance trial, the appraiser's statements during the trial helped the court clarify the key facts of the case.
(1) Before May 13, 2021, the patient's condition was relatively stable, and there were no other life-threatening diseases or fatal factors.
(2) The patient has no obvious cerebrovascular injury, and if there is no subcutaneous puncture on May 13, 2021, in principle, cerebral hemorrhage will not occur and the eyes will be comatose.
(3) If the patient only has the consequences of aphasia and hemiplegia on May 12, 2021, he can breathe, eat, sit or stand on his own, and does not need to stay in bed, and can even recover to a better living state through rehabilitation treatment.
(4) If the patient has the surgical indication for subdural effusion subcutaneous puncture on May 13, 2021, the consequences of the damage caused by the opening of the eyes and coma are complications of the normal diagnosis and treatment operation of the doctor; In this case, there was no way to determine whether surgery was indicated because the medical records provided did not include the medical records of the physical or CT examination before the puncture on May 13, 2021.
(5) The surgical indication of subdermal puncture is that there is subdural effusion, that is, there is swelling or mass, and the surgical site of the bone window is relatively soft after "decompression surgery". If there is a mass under the skull, puncture should be performed. A basic palpation of the hand is performed before each subcision is performed to determine whether there is a bulge and whether there is a mass under the skull.
"What I didn't expect was that the court stated in court that they had not done the relevant examinations, and admitted their mistake in court. Lawyer Fan Rong said.
In the end, after comprehensively considering the appraisal opinions and the circumstances of the trial, the court found that there was a causal relationship between the fault of the hospital and the damage caused by Mr. Ma's eventual death, and assumed full liability for compensation in this case.
Mr. Ma's family said: "I am grateful to the lawyers for their time and energy in the process of handling the case, such an outcome is not only of great significance to the family, but also encourages more people to pursue fairness and justice." ”
RECRUIT
Case lawyer