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| Disposition:
(Settlement/Arbitration/Trial) |
Settlement |
Date: |
1/14/1992 |
Type of Case: |
Medical Malpractice |
Allegation(s): |
Massive Staph Infection |
Result: |
$345,000 |
Case Name: |
Moorehead v. The United States of America |
Facts: |
On August 18, 1989, 56-year-old Charles Moorehead, a retired Coast Guard captain, underwent an angioplasty at UCSD Medical Center on referral from his physician at the Naval Hospital in San Diego. Following the procedure and following the removal of the catheter sheath from the plaintiff's right inguinal region, he developed a hematoma in the area of the right groin.
Examinations by the plaintiff's treating physicians on August 23rd and 28th still revealed a hematoma, but the plaintiff was determined to be healthy. Plaintiff was later discharged and proceeded on a cross-country motorhome trip.
On September 2, 1989, plaintiff experienced pain in his right groin and low back. The following day, plaintiff developed a fever. Between September 3rd and September 12th, 1989, the plaintiff presented five times to the emergency room at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico for treatment. The plaintiff advised the doctors at Kirtland of his previous history regarding the angioplasty. His condition was diagnosed as a low back strain and prostatitis, but the physicians did not consider a developing infection in the hip as a possible diagnosis.
On September 20, 1989, the plaintiff returned to San Diego where he was diagnosed at San Diego Naval Hospital as having a massive staph infection which had spread from his hip joint to a disk in his low back.
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| Injury/Injuries: |
Massive staph infection of the right hip with near complete destruction of the hip joint space, and complete destruction of the L3-L4 disk space in the low back.
Past medicals were all covered by plaintiff's Coast Guard retirement benefits. Lost income of $100,000 to $200,000.
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| Contentions: |
Plaintiff contended that the doctors at the Kirtland Air Force Base emergency room failed to appropriately and timely diagnose and treat his developing infection.
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| Special Notes: |
The "New
Mexico Medical Malpractice Act," applicable
to this action, places a $500,000 cap
on non-economic (emotional distress) damages,
as opposed to California's $250,000 cap.
<
back to Medical Malpractice Case
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