After a life-threatening medical incident during a chiropractor’s session, a guy in his 20s was left with locked-in syndrome.
A rare neurological illness that effectively paralyses people took hold after an event in October 2015, and Jonathan Buckelew’s close ones said he ‘lost every part of his existence’.
According to Atlanta News First (ANF), the 34-year-old had a chiropractic neck treatment when he abruptly became lightheaded, confused, and unresponsive.
According to court filings, Jonathan was sent to North Fulton Hospital in the US state of Georgia, but the doctors there were unable to diagnose his condition.
Unfortunately, he was having a severe brain stem stroke, and because the professionals missed it, the young man lost valuable time to stop the damage.
Source: Pexels
After a day without a diagnosis, Jonathan was diagnosed with locked-in syndrome, which is characterised by consciousness but no verbal communication or movement other than eye motions.
His lawyer, Lloyd Bell, explained, “Jonathan was having a stroke when he came to the hospital, and they missed it. The people who were responsible for reading the radiographs misread it.”
“The ER doctor saw this patient was having all these signs and symptoms of stroke and never called a stroke alert, and they had policies in place that they were supposed to follow certain protocols to reach the correct diagnosis, and they didn’t follow their policies and procedures.”
The chiropractor, the hospital, Dr. Matthew Womack, radiologist James Waldschmidt, and the on-call neurologist Christopher Nickum were all sued by Jonathan’s family.
A jury in a state court in Fulton County found Womack and Waldschmidt ‘grossly negligent’ in failing to identify Jonathan’s disease, and as a result, he was given a $75 million award.
Womack failed to inform Nickum that Jonathan had seen a chiropractor that day and that the patient had gone through two seizure-like episodes, the court also heard.
ANF claims that the radiologist also failed to notice important scan information, but the chiropractor, the hospital, and its employees were not held accountable.
The medical negligence lawsuit reportedly awarded Jonathan $46 million for pain and suffering, $9 million for past medical bills, and $20 million for future medical costs.
“This case is heartbreaking because Jonathan’s paralysis and brain damage were completely avoidable,” Bell said following the verdict.
“If the slew of healthcare providers involved in Jonathan’s care would have acted according to the standard of care, caught and treated his stroke earlier, and communicated more effectively, Jonathan’s life would look entirely different.”
Jonathan received enormous compensation, but according to his family, it still doesn’t make up for the life he lost.
“I really feel like there’s no real justice for somebody who lost every aspect of his life,” his father, Jack Buckelew, said.
“We’re just focusing on what can we do now; how can we keep him as happy as possible; and how can we give him the best life possible.”
The father added that, along with a group of nurses, he and Jonathan’s mother, Janice, now provide round-the-clock care for their once lively and fit son.
Their garage has been converted into a medical supply room, and they have modified their house to accommodate Jonathan, who is mute and only communicates by blinking or typing on a keypad with his nose.
“We do work really hard to keep at least two months ahead on the supplies,” Jack said. “We created an ICU, honestly.”
He then said of his son, “In spite of his spirit which keeps us going – because he wants to do things, he wants to go places – it just breaks our heart to see him like he is.”
“There are some days where he’s like ‘pull the plug,’ so those are the tough days.”
Womack first had the court decision rejected when he appealed it. But now he has appealed to the Supreme Court of Georgia.
Waldschmidt appealed as well, although he later pulled it.
