Jury Awards Family $4 Million in Wrongful Death Malpractice Case

A West Virginia jury has awarded $4,000,000 to the family of a woman who died as a result of a heart attack that was not diagnosed in an emergency room.
On February 11, 2009, 43-year-old Terry Hiam was taken to the emergency room at Wheeling Hospital complaining of chest pain. The emergency room doctor, Dr. Stephen Heirendt, discharged her with the diagnosis of chest pain of unclear origin and bronchitis. Eleven days later, she was found at home in an unresponsive state and pronounced dead at a hospital.
The jury found that the emergency room doctor failed to correctly diagnose the signs of an imminent heart attack which resulted in Hiam’s untimely death.