$1,500,000 Settlement for Failure to Properly Treat Hyponatremia

Blume Donnelly Partner, David Fried, represented a client who came into the hospital with a very low sodium (salt) level in his blood. This condition is known as hyponatremia. It is important that a patient with a sodium level this low have it corrected in a timely manner. However, correction of sodium levels cannot be achieved in too rapid a fashion (“overcorrection”), or it may result in brain cell damage. Our client’s salt level was “overcorrected” causing a condition called Central Pontine Myelinolysis where there was a destruction of the layer covering the nerve cells in the middle of the brainstem. This resulted in a brain injury and significant limitations in our client’s brain function requiring that he be permanently confined to a rehab/nursing facility.