The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Joplin Metro

Discussion

May 6, 2008

Diagnosis of blood clot at issue in malpractice trial

By Jeff Lehr

jlehr@joplinglobe.com

A Jasper County jury Tuesday began hearing a wrongful-death lawsuit brought against a Joplin family-practice physician by the wife and mother of a 28-year-old man who died more than four years ago of a pulmonary embolism, or blood clot.

The jury was selected Monday to hear the malpractice case of Ilinka Lakhdar and Janie Bratton against Dr. Thomas Hamilton in Jasper County Circuit Court in Joplin.

Kenneth Lakhdar died Nov. 7, 2003, at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Joplin, five days after passing out at home and being admitted to the hospital. He had been under the care of Hamilton for two years before his death.

Joplin attorney Ed Hershewe, who represents the wife and mother in their suit, told jurors during opening statements that Hamilton failed to diagnose Lakhdar correctly over that period of time, and continued to treat him for an upper respiratory infection and allergies.

He said the alleged diagnostic failure took place despite repeated presentations of the patient with symptoms such as dark-colored sputum, shortness of breath and chest pains.

“When the symptoms are not getting better with the treatments he prescribes, he needs to consider these more dangerous causes,” Hershewe told jurors.

The plaintiffs allege that Hamilton failed to order tests or consultations with specialists that could have led to a correct diagnosis and saved Lakhdar’s life. Instead, the cause of his death was never learned until his wife had an autopsy performed by a St. Louis forensic pathologist.

The plaintiffs maintain that Hamilton’s handling of his patient constituted a breach of the standard of care to which physicians are held, and medical negligence.

Hamilton’s attorney, Brian Malkmus, of Springfield, said the plaintiffs’ case is disingenuous in that it seeks to make the cause of Lakhdar’s death appear to have been a progressive development over a period of several months when all evidence points to an acute onset of the embolism in November 2003.

Malkmus told jurors that Lakhdar was never tacchycardic, as patients with pulmonary embolisms usually are. His red blood cell counts were normal up until the time of his final admission to St. John’s, another indicator that the pulmonary embolism was sudden, not gradually developing, the defense attorney said.

He said Lakhdar had two echocardiograms conducted a few months before his death, including one at the end of August 2003, and they were normal. It was not until he suffered a sudden pulmonary embolism that an enlargement of the right side of his heart showed up, he said.

“When it was there was the day after the patient was admitted to St. John’s,” Malkmus told the jury.

He said the majority of such embolisms are never caught in time by doctors, especially in someone as young as Lakhdar, who would not normally be perceived as at risk for a pulmonary embolism. While a pulmonary embolism would be a possible cause of the symptoms he had presented in the months leading up to his death, it was never “a clinical suspicion” of Hamilton or any other doctor, including the emergency room physicians who had seen the patient, he said.

The trial is expected to take two weeks.

Text Only
Joplin Metro
  • Ruby-Sapp-obit.jpg Longtime Democrat dies at 81

    Sapp, 81, died Thursday. Funeral services were Monday at the First Presbyterian Church of Joplin. A longtime Jasper County Democratic committeewoman and volunteer, Sapp for years was secretary to the county’s central committee.

    August 9, 2010 1 Photo

  • Motivational speaker offers free marriage course

    Presented by Mark Gungor, the course is being offered free to the community. The event is being held to aid in tornado relief. 

    January 12, 2012

  • District sends faculty, administrators on site visits

    With the design phase of several buildings in Joplin Schools ending in May, the district has sent 66 administration, faculty, parents and community members on site visits to 22 schools and two technology company headquarters across the country.

    January 11, 2012

  • 011012 Jop HS mural1_72.jpg Mural depicting Joplin High School dedicated

    A four-paneled mural depicting the recent history of Joplin High School was dedicated at the Memorial 9th- and 10th-grade Center Tuesday morning. The mural will be moved to the new high school when it is completed in 2014.

    January 10, 2012 4 Photos

  • Carl Junction chamber creating new committees

    The Carl Junction Chamber of Commerce is kicking off three new committees this week with meetings scheduled Tuesday and Wednesday.

    January 9, 2012

  • Body of missing Joplin man found

    The body of a missing Joplin man was discovered this afternoon inside his home in the Royal Heights neighborhood of Joplin.

    January 3, 2012

  • Wildcat Glades nature center receives $50,000 grant

    The Wildcat Glades Conservation & Audubon Center has received a $50,000 TogetherGreen Innovation Grant, which is being provided through an alliance between the National Audubon Society and Toyota.

    October 21, 2011

  • Joplin shooting victim’s name released

    The Joplin Police Department today released the name of a woman fatally shot in her home early Thursday and acknowledged that the shooting was reported as a suicide attempt.

    October 21, 2011

  • Barry Manilow to deliver donated instruments

    Singer-songwriter Barry Manilow will visit Joplin next week to donate more than $300,000 in musical instruments to replace those lost during the May 22 tornado.

    October 21, 2011

  • Extreme Makeover releases names of families

    "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" has released more details about the build in the 2400 block of Connor Avenue, including the names of the seven families. They are:

    October 19, 2011