Family Claims Failure to Diagnose Meningitis Caused Brain Damage

Posted on Feb 10, 2012

On October 31, 2009, a 7-year-old boy experienced a significant headache and was taken to see his pediatrician. According to the boy’s family, the events that followed resulted in the boy’s blindness and other neurological problems.

The boy’s mother took the child to see the pediatrician who allegedly diagnosed him with an ear infection and sent him home. He was brought back to the pediatrician several times over the next few days as his condition did not improve. The mother alleges that on November 2, she called the office to report her son’s symptoms were not improving and that the receptionist told her that there was nothing more for the doctor to do because the child had just been seen.

On November 3, the child was again seen by the pediatrician who reportedly could not complete a neurological exam because of the child’s pain and sent the child for a CAT scan, which resulted in a migraine diagnosis. Later that day, the child was found unresponsive at home and taken to the hospital where he was eventually diagnosed with bacterial meningitis.

The family’s complaint alleges that the pediatrician’s failure to diagnose meningitis resulted in the boy’s blindness and other brain damage. They assert that the doctor failed to assert the proper standard of care by failing to account for the child’s severe headache, by failing to recognize the symptoms of bacterial meningitis and by allowing a receptionist to decide whether or not the child should be seen for his condition.

Our Atlanta medical malpractice attorneys express our best wishes to this child for a full and complete recovery.