Luedella Dickens, Admr. v Ohio State University Medical Center, Case No. 2013-00204

Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center will pay $275,000 to family members of a Maryland woman who was sent home while she was having a heart attack.

According to court documents, Ella Whitehead’s relatives said doctors in April 2012 sent Whitehead home to await test results indicating if she was suffering from a heart attack. The test was one of several Whitehead had after she complained of chest pain days following a car crash.

When one doctor noticed Whitehead’s test results, his staff tried to contact her the next morning to advise her to go to the hospital but was unsuccessful. Whitehead was later found dead in her home that same day.

Attorneys for Whitehead’s family state that Whitehead shouldn’t have been sent home with chest pain and an abnormal EKG (electrocardiogram) and that the doctors failed to provide acceptable standard of care.

Attorneys representing the hospital stated that Whitehead had heart issues prior to her hospital visit.

In the settlement approved by the Court of Claims on July 28, OSU Wexner Medical Center will give Whitehead’s family $275,000. In exchange for the money, the relatives agree to not file any future claims with the hospital. The OSU Wexner Medical Center doesn’t admit liability in the settlement.

To access information on other cases visit the Court of Claims website.

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