Legal Pearl: Failure to Follow-Up on Results in Death: Who is Responsible?

AUTHOR:

Ann W. Latner, JD

A widow sued the United States government following her husband’s death from liver cancer after physicians from the Veteran Affairs Medical Center failed to diagnose his liver lesions. During the court testimony, a physician who treated her husband blamed the death on a nurse as they had access to the patient’s test results.

Is the nurse at fault?

(Answer and discussion on the next page)