Misdiagnosed Filipina nurse gets $7.8-M from Chicago hospital

CHICAGO, Illinois– Rosemary Mittenthal, a 68-year-old Filipina nurse in Chicago, Illinois, had complained of having “right shoulder pain" and “left knee pain" in mid-March of 2005. But emergency doctors at the Swedish Covenant Hospital had discharged her as having “gouty arthritis."

Because the emergency staff, led by Dr. Paul Newskow, failed to promptly diagnose and treat Rosemary's septic arthritis the Filipina nurse suffered “conscious pain, suffering and permanent disability and injury, which continues to the present day."

It turned out that Rosemary had meningitis that was left undiagnosed for three days, according to her lawyer, Mark McNabola.

On June 4, the Swedish Covenant agreed to pay Rosemary $7.8 million to settle her negligence lawsuit.

Painful ordeal

When Rosemary was rushed to the emergency room “for pain management," the “orthopedic surgeon felt this was not consistent with osteoarthritis and alternative medications were given," according to records from the Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago.

Despite taking her prescriptions, Rosemary's pain progressed until Easter Sunday and had gotten so bad that the she required assistance to get in and out of bed.

The following morning, Rosemary was in such extraordinary pain that her husband, Robert, called 9-1-1. Rosemary was taken to the Swedish Covenant Hospital on March 29, 2005.

She was later diagnosed with “septic joint with meningitis and sepsis," and “complex non-traumatic brain and spinal cord injury."

Since her condition was left undiagnosed for a long time, Rosemary became “dependent for all aspects of self-care and mobility (eating, grooming, bathing, dressing, and toileting, as well as all transfers)," “dependent at the wheel-chair level and had moderate to severe deficits for social interaction, problem-solving, comprehensive and expression."

She now “requires 24-hour assistance for all care."

Rosemary was an active community leader several years ago. She ran but lost for the presidency of the Filipino American Council of Greater Chicago (FACC), a community umbrella group in Chicagoland area. - GMANews.TV

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