The plaintiffs decedent, age fifty-one, began having trouble breathing and 911 was called. A New York City Fire Department unit arrived shortly thereafter, and an ambulance from an ambulance service was dispatched. The decedent was found slumped over his desk, having difficulty breathing and was determined to be in anaphylactic shock. The ambulance call report noted that he was found cyanotic with diminished lung sounds, but that he was alert and oriented. His vital signs were unstable and worsening and his case was assigned a high priority by the ambulance crew.

After he was loaded into the ambulance he was examined and intubation was attempted when he began to crash. He was then transported to a hospital. Upon arrival at the hospital he was unresponsive, had no pulse, no blood pressure and he had no spontaneous reflexes. His pupils were also fixed, indicting that brain death had occurred before he had arrived. He was officially pronounced dead.

The plaintiff alleged that the defendants were negligent in failing to timely transport the decedent to the hospital. The plaintiff claimed that the ambulance crew should have immediately transported him to a hospital instead of remaining at the scene examining the decedent. The intubation attempted by the ambulance crew had gone into the esophagus, instead of the lungs.

The defendants argued that they had followed proper protocols and that the decedent was taken to the nearest hospital as soon as he began to crash.

According to a published account a $1.6 million settlement was reached through mediation.

With permission from Medical Malpractice Verdicts, Settlements & Experts; Lewis Laska, Editor, 901 Church St., Nashville, TN 37203-3411, 1-800-298-6288.