Adolescent Medical Malpractice
Little Joey Jones (named changed to preserve confidentiality), a sixth-grader from Wethersfield, wrote in his school yearbook that he wanted to grow up and own a construction company just like his dad. The first-born son in a hard-working and successful first-generation Italian family, Joey was an exceptional little boy.
Joey's close friend, a twelve-year-old girl, said this about him in a poem:
"I send you love
For caring for me
When I was sick or hurt
Or wanted company."
Little Joey died suddenly of heart failure—a tragedy that could and should have been avoided. He needed immediate intervention and didn't get it. He was misdiagnosed.
Spinella & Associates, in the course of a pretrial investigation, worked with top national medical authorities to uncover problems that were significant deviations from the standard and accepted medical care.
Joey's sudden death could have been avoided because he had aortic valve stenosis, a congenital disease, about which the risks were well known.
The complaint alleged that the pediatric cardiologist entrusted with Joey's care failed repeatedly to perform basic and necessary tests over time; that he failed repeatedly to recognize or respond to common "red flags" signaling the severity of the condition; that he misinterpreted tests that were administered; that he failed to tell the family about proper athletic restrictions; and, most importantly, that he failed to intervene in a timely manner to prevent Joey's sudden death.
Based on Joey's life expectancy, his loss of enjoyment of life's activities, his lost potential earnings and numerous other factors, Spinella & Associates won a substantial settlement for the family through use of a non-trial mediation process pursued in order to spare the family the trauma of a lengthy trial. Spinella & Associates made skilled use of their evidence by way of a professionally produced "day-in-the-life" videotape; a voluminous, comprehensive, illustrated mediation notebook; and other professionally developed litigation tools that highlighted the testimony of their numerous, prominent expert witnesses.