Failure to Diagnose Correctly Leads to Painful Death
Roger Vuckovich’s, 45, life was cut short when a doctor failed to diagnose him correctly. An Indiana jury agreed and awarded $4.45 million to the after finding the St. Catherine's Hospital emergency doctor responsible for medical malpractice, plaintiff's attorney Holly Wojcik said. The family sued Dr. Rajeev Sareen after the Dec. 22, 2001 death. Twelve hours after Dr. Sareen discharged Vuckovich from the hospital he died of an abdominal aortic aneurysm. In court it was disclosed that his death could have been prevented if Sareen had ordered a CT scan for an accurate diagnosis. Instead Vuckovich was misdiagnosed as having a kidney stone. Vuckovich's wife, Cynthia, and three daughters were the plaintiffs. Under the state’s cap on damages, she and her daughters award will be reduced to $1.25 million instead.
