Patient Dies after Administration of Contraindicated Bone Loss Medication; Jury Awards $1.45M

A New York jury has awarded $1.45 million to the estate of a patient who suffered kidney damage and subsequently died after being given a medication for bone loss that the plaintiff alleged was both contraindicated and inadequately monitored. The case was reported in the February 2021 Medical Malpractice Jury Verdicts, Settlements, and Experts.

The 52-year-old patient had a history of scleroderma with the presence of p-ANCA, which can indicate autoimmune vasculitis. The patient saw the defendant physician following a diagnosis with osteopenia. However, the physician believed the patient had been diagnosed with osteoporosis, a more severe form of bone loss. Based on this assumption, the physician prescribed a bone loss medication...