A Lauderhill woman who became paralyzed below her waist as a result of the failure to diagnose a spinal epidural abscess was paid more than $2,500,000 by the hospital and involved physician. The woman entered a local hospital emergency room with a fever and back pain. Medical protocol requires that this be considered an infection in the spine until proven otherwise as this is a medical emergency. Unfortunately, the treating physicians did not do any imaging of the lower part of the patient’s spine so that a large abscess near the spinal cord went undetected. While hospitalized over the next few days, the infection progressed to the point where it eroded a portion of the spinal cord. As a result, the woman was left paralyzed below the waist and died approximately 2 years after the incident.
