Doctors have a major duty of care to their patients. If they assess someone as being fit to do something and that person dies doing it, they are negligent.
This recently published case is very disturbing and involves a doctor being sued for the wrongful death of a teen. The teen had been told he could go ahead and play sports, but the boy collapsed during a soccer game. As the facts of the case emerged, it turned out the doctor had not told the boy’s parents he had a potentially dangerous heart condition. Cases like this are often used in trials later to point out case similarities and to use the decision of the courts as a reference.
After being examined in 2006, the 19-year-old was told he had a heart murmur. The doctor said he was good to play sports. The doctor even sent the boy’s parents a letter in 2006 that said he could play sports. But, for some reason, the doctor also did not tell them that tests had indicated a thickening of the heart muscle – a potential life-threatening condition. There was no mention of any further tests made in the letter. What parent would not think the doctor would know best?
The boy played for his school soccer team and graduated in 2007. He then went to college, where he played sports for a further two years. In 2009, the young man was playing a recreational soccer game when he collapsed and died later in the hospital. The cause of death was thickening of the heart muscle, also referred to as hypertropic cardiomyopathy.
In cases like this, the boy’s parents had a right to be told about any serious tests to allow them to make the right kind of decisions about his treatment. In this instance, that did not happen. The case will be tried by jury and will be seeking damages for the doctor’s egregious oversight in not informing the parents of the boy’s significantly serious heart condition.
If you have been in a similar situation, you will want justice and you will want to make a point about the dangers of not informing people about serious test results. This is where you will want to talk to a New Hampshire injury lawyer and find out what your rights are and what a wrongful death lawsuit means in terms of compensation and closure.
Wrongful death lawsuits are not about revenge. They are about the economics of carrying on a life into the future after the death of a loved family member. It is things like that you will need to discuss with a New Hampshire injury lawyer.
Charlie Donahue is a New Hampshire personal injury lawyer located in Keene. Donahue handles injury cases in New Hampshire and across the United States. To learn more about New Hampshire injury attorney, Charlie Donahue, visit Donahuelawfirm.com.