A patient who was considered too big to fit inside an MRI scanner at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Oregon is suing the institution for $7 million, according to a recent article by the Portland Business Journal.
The medical negligence lawsuit alleges that Providence failed to transfer the patient, Lawrence Jackson, in a timely manner to a hospital with a sufficiently large MRI machine. He initially presented to Providence with chills, appetite loss, mid- to lower-back pain, and elevated temperature, pulse, and blood pressure, but he was sent home after his physician realized Jackson couldn't receive an MRI of his back because he wouldn't fit into the scanner, according to the Portland Business Journal.
Several days later, Jackson returned to the hospital emergency room with a complaint of back pain and that his legs had given out, according to the suit filed on June 1 in Multnomah County Circuit Court. Jackson was eventually transferred to Oregon Health and Science University Hospital, where he underwent MRI and subsequent surgery for a low thoracic epidural abscess.
Jackson has accumulated approximately $1 million in medical bills, and his condition has since developed into permanent paraplegia, the newspaper reported.
