Kaiser – Wrongful Death

Our Kaiser wrongful death specialists brought a Kaiser Permanente Arbitration claim on behalf of the surviving husband and two adult children of a 58-year-old Permanente member who died from an untreated pulmonary embolism. The deceased Kaiser member had visited a South Bay Kaiser Emergency room complaining of chest pain and shortness of breath. A blood test was elevated. After a referral from the emergency department to the cardiology department, a Permanente Group cardiologist performed a left heart catheterization that ruled out coronary artery disease but failed to perform the right heart catheterization which would have shown a potentially fatal pulmonary embolism. As a result, the patient’s pulmonary embolism was not diagnosed. Blood-thinning medications would have prevented death but were not given. She died leaving her husband and children unsupported.