Sommers Schwartz attorneys Matthew Turner and Lenore Zakhem filed a medical malpractice and wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of a 71-year-old woman who died of sepsis while being treated at the defendant hospital. 

On November 15, 2019, Lorraine Ross was admitted to the emergency department of Ascension Providence Hospital. The patient presented with a history of hypotension, tachycardia, neutropenia, and thrombocytopenia. The lawsuit alleges that the defendant’s failure to properly treat the patient’s condition caused her death two days later from a severe bacterial infection. 

The plaintiff claims the hospital, individual doctors, and other medical personnel were professionally negligent by failing to recognize indications of sepsis after she presented at the ER, overlooking indicators in the patient’s medical history that increased the likelihood of sepsis, failing to provide appropriate testing, consults, and treatment, including prescribing appropriate antibiotic medications in a timely manner.

The medical malpractice complaint alleges that had the plaintiff’s condition been properly identified and timely treated in the emergency department, she would have likely recovered completely, and her death would have been avoided. The suit sought damages for the decedent’s injuries and wrongful death, including compensation for her pain and suffering, medical and funeral expenses, economic losses on behalf of her estate, and loss of her love, companionship, and the value of her services to her surviving family.