Sommers Schwartz attorney John Malone filed a medical malpractice and wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the estate of a 21-year-old man with sickle cell disease who died at a Metro Detroit hospital after his care team failed to recognize and treat a rapidly progressing, life-threatening complication of his condition.
On the morning of October 6, 2021, the decedent, who had a documented history of sickle cell disease, also known as Hemoglobin SS disease, presented to the emergency department with a sickle cell pain crisis. At presentation, he was maintaining normal blood oxygen levels and was admitted for pain management. That evening, an attending physician was assigned to his case.
Overnight, the decedent’s condition deteriorated significantly. His hemoglobin dropped sharply, his oxygen saturation fell below normal levels on room air, and his platelet count declined. Nursing staff documented repeated attempts to reach physicians throughout the night because of his uncontrolled pain and declining clinical status. When the attending physician first evaluated him on the morning of October 7, her notes acknowledged that his condition had meaningfully worsened since admission. A hematology/oncology consult was not initiated until that morning, and the consulting team did not see him until that afternoon. Despite documenting his worsening labs and symptoms, the care team failed to identify and treat Acute Chest Syndrome, a well-known and life-threatening complication of sickle cell disease that can develop during a pain crisis and requires prompt, aggressive treatment.
The lawsuit alleges that the decedent’s worsening oxygenation, falling hemoglobin, declining platelet count, uncontrolled pain, and known Hemoglobin SS disease presented a recognizable clinical picture of developing Acute Chest Syndrome. In that setting, timely escalation to hematology, close respiratory monitoring, and prompt exchange transfusion were necessary to prevent the sickling cascade from progressing to organ failure.
Acute Chest Syndrome is caused by red blood cell sickling in the blood vessels of the lungs, reducing oxygen delivery to the body. It can progress rapidly and, if not treated with interventions such as red blood cell exchange transfusion, can result in multi-organ failure and death. Exchange transfusion removes sickle-shaped red blood cells and replaces them with healthy donor cells, restoring the blood’s ability to carry oxygen. The standard of care required the physicians responsible for the decedent’s care to maintain a high index of suspicion for ACS, recognize its progression, and initiate exchange transfusion therapy without delay.
None of that happened. On October 8, 2021, the decedent was transferred to the medical intensive care unit (MICU), but by then his condition had deteriorated significantly. That morning, he experienced rapid decompensation, including a catastrophic drop in blood pressure, abnormal posturing, and agonal breathing. He suffered a ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI), a type of heart attack caused by the heart muscle being deprived of oxygen, which the treating expert attributed to demand ischemia driven by his untreated ACS. He experienced multiple cardiac arrests and died on October 8, 2021. His treating physician certified that his death was due to a sickle cell crisis. He was survived by his mother, father, siblings, and grandparents.
Had the care team recognized the signs of developing ACS and initiated red blood cell exchange transfusion in a timely manner, the decedent’s blood oxygen-carrying capacity would have improved, the percentage of sickle cells in his bloodstream would have decreased, and his clinical deterioration would have been prevented. The STEMI, cardiac arrests, and death would not have occurred.
The suit seeks accountability for the preventable loss of a young man’s life and for the profound losses suffered by his surviving family members.
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