What to do about a missed diagnosis?

What to do about a missed diagnosis?

My 83 year old father passed away while hospitalized. The cause of death was a ruptured aortic stent, not found for 4 days and only tested for when it was too late for it to be successfully repaired. The attending cardiologist was his regular doctor, well aware of his medical history. In retrospect, dad presented in the emergency room with typical symptoms, yet the doctor never ordered tests that could have determined that the stent was failing. In fact, up until he was rushed into the surgery that he never woke up from, they appeared to have no diagnosis at all. We have contacted several lawyers who all say the same thing: too difficult (costly) to prove that a correct diagnosis would have saved him at his age. Should we pursue?

Asked on November 19, 2012 under Malpractice Law, Pennsylvania

Answers:

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