Over 2.5 million dollars was awarded to the estate of a 74-year-old woman who died unexpectedly while a patient in an emergency room. The woman had a long history of internal bleeding and presented to the emergency room because of internal bleeding, shortness of breath and abdominal pain. Three and a half hour later, she arrested. Resuscitation was unsuccessful, and the woman died. Attorney McManus sued the emergency medicine physician in charge of the woman’s care and the hospital because the doctor and nurses failed to ask the woman the appropriate questions about her internal bleeding and failed to administer IV fluids. As a result, she became unstable and went into cardiac arrest. When the woman arrested, the doctor and nurses did not respond until the woman’s husband repeatedly requested that they help his wife. The defendants failed to offer a single penny to settle the lawsuit, and chose to take the case to trial. At trial the defendants argued that it was reasonable not to give the woman IV fluids because there were no signs that she was significantly dehydrated. They also argued that the woman’s death had nothing to do with blood loss or dehydration. The defendants each called multiple expert witnesses in support of their defense. The trial lasted nine days. At trial Attorney McManus was able to persuade the jury that both the doctor and the hospital were negligent and that their negligence caused the woman’s death. He was also able to persuade the jury to award 2.5 million dollars in damages for the loss of life despite the fact that the woman only had a remaining life expectancy of 13 years.
