The TSJ considers that there was a delay in the diagnosis that led to the death of this elderly man
The Ministry of Health must compensate with 265,000 euros to the relatives of a neighbor of Cieza who died of Fournier’s gangrene diagnosed late. The Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice (TSJ) upholds the lawsuit filed by the lawyer Ignacio Martínez on behalf of the Patient Ombudsman association and recognizes that there was a delay in the diagnosis that led to the death of the patient and the patient. that the Administration must answer.
The events date back to November 21, 2018, when the 84-year-old man underwent surgery for a bilateral hydrocelectomy – a kind of inflammation in the scrotum – at the Hospital de la Vega Lorenzo Guirao de Cieza. After the surgery, according to the plaintiffs stated in their lawsuit, complications such as pain, inflammation, scrotal and penile edema, ecchymosis, cough and expectoration arose. A nurse already warned, on December 1, that the wound had an “ugly” appearance and so reflected it in the report. Four days later, according to the resolution, the lesion already presented exudation at the drainage point and a bad smell, but the patient had not yet been seen by the urologist.
It was not until the following day, December 6, that the specialist attended the patient and discovered that he was suffering from an infectious complication, Fournier’s gangrene, for which he had to undergo emergency surgery. He was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Reina Sofía hospital in Murcia and, after 41 days in hospital, he ended up dying.
The Patient Ombudsman warns of the risk of “lowering the alert level” during the festive bridges, when the most serious errors occur
The association the Ombudsman for the Patient, on behalf of the widow, children and grandchildren of this resident of Cieza, formalized an administrative claim and a subsequent lawsuit against the Murcian public health system. The Ministry of Health opposed granting any type of compensation, alleging that “the pain, hematoma and scrotal inflammation that the patient suffered are clinical manifestations that can occur after a hydrocelectomy and, therefore, are not useful diagnostic symptoms to suspect a Fourier’s gangrene. The Administration also stressed that, in the event that it was understood that the man died of that infection, the damage produced should be understood as a loss of opportunity.
The TSJ, however, concludes that it is not possible to speak of loss of opportunity since it has been proven that the infection damaged the patient’s vital organs, so there is a causal relationship between health care and death and the Administration must compensate the family.
Carmen Flores, the president of the Patient Ombudsman association, takes the opportunity to warn doctors and authorities “of the danger of lowering the alert level in medical care in urgent cases like this during a bank holiday, days when Unfortunately, statistically, the most serious medical errors are concentrated.
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