May 4, 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mount Dora, Fla. – The American Patient Rights Association (APRA) is looking out for those who find themselves in the hospital. Consistent with its mission and vision, the APRA filed an Amicus Brief, or “friend-of-the-court” brief, in the North Carolina Supreme Court against a prominent hospital in Eastern North Carolina. The case involves the decision of one of the hospital’s physicians to withhold the diagnosis of a fatal but treatable disease from a patient who eventually died at the medical center.
In the Amicus Brief, the APRA stated that the physician in question at Vidant Medical Center in Greenville, N.C. had enough information to recommend a bone marrow biopsy. Had the 54-year-old patient received this information from the VMC physician he could have made a decision to
have the procedure performed immediately, which would have led to a faster diagnosis and treatment that could have saved his life. The doctor testified that he had received the patient’s results nearly two months before the biopsy was performed. The patient died two weeks later.
APRA is dedicated to fighting for patients and against those in the medical, hospital, health insurance, pharmaceutical, and medical device industries who cause preventable harm to patients due to irresponsible or unfair actions, gross negligence, fraud, predatory activity, or by putting profit before patients. Fair and safe healthcare is denied to millions of people each year, causing immense physical and financial harm to patients and their families, and financial harm to our country.
To learn more see APRA Motion to File Amicus Brief