Toxic Megacolon Death from c.diff Infection: $1 Million Settlement
Delayed order for surgical consult leads to toxic megacolon and death of 75-year-old woman from c.diff infection
2025 Medical Malpractice Lawyer’s Report
By Lynn I. Hu, Medical Malpractice Attorney for the Plaintiff
Suffolk County Superior Court, Boston, Massachusetts
Case summary
This is a wrongful death claim in which the decedent’s providers failed to appropriately treat her recurrent clostridium difficile (c.diff) infection and recognize that she required surgical intervention before progression to toxic megacolon and sepsis.
Case background
As of October 2014, the decedent was 75 years old and had been dealing with weeks of recurrent c.diff infections, stemming from an initial hospitalization in August 2014.
On 10/19/14, the decedent presented to the emergency department with complaints of severe abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. She was started on an antibiotic course and admitted to the hospital. Overnight, she was noted to be hypotensive and tachycardic with severe abdominal pain despite being medicated. In the early morning hours, she was transferred to the ICU and a CT scan was ordered that showed signs of toxic megacolon. Surgery was consulted at this time and a total colectomy was recommended however, by this time, the decedent’s family had already requested transfer to an outside hospital due to their dissatisfaction with the care received at the treating hospital. By the time the transfer to the outside hospital was made, the decedent was in multi-organ failure and passed away shortly thereafter.
The plaintiff’s experts opined that the decedent required surgical consult as soon she was admitted to the hospital on 10/19/14. Further, the plaintiff’s experts were prepared to offer testimony that, by the time of the family’s request for transfer, too much time had already elapsed without source control under the defendants’ care that the decedent was unlikely to survive her ongoing infection.
Case settles for $1,000,000.00
The case settled prior to the start of trial for $1 million.
Attorneys for the plaintiff: Andrew C. Meyer, Jr. and Lynn I. Hu, Lubin & Meyer PC.
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