Glenda Yarbrough recently teamed up with Bell Law Firm to file a medical malpractice and wrongful death lawsuit against Gwinnett County against Gwinnett Hospital System and CardioVascular Group over the 2018 death of her husband, Ronald Yarbrough.

A medical professional with a stethoscope. Image via Pexels. Public domain.

According to the suit, Mr. Yarbrough visited Dr. Lance Friedland in October 2018 at CardioVascular Group for a non-contrast CT scan of his heart, “which provided calcium scoring.” The report for his exam noted his “coronary artery calcification score in his left anterior descending artery (LAD) was 469 – indicating a likelihood of extensive atherosclerotic plaque in his LAD.” That means he most likely “had high-grade stenosis in one of the critical arteries to the myocardium.”Unfortunately, Dr. Lance failed to identify and treat Yarbrough’s LAD stenosis, “leading to a post-surgery heart attack and premature death nearly eight months later.” The suit argues that, if Friedland would have followed the required standard of care, he would have had a follow-up appointment with Yarbrough to evaluate him and put together a “potential treatment plan for coronary artery disease.” Friedland did not do that, though. Instead, Yarbrough received a letter from CardioVascular Group informing him that his “calcium scoring results were not concerning based on a prior stress test and cardiac catheterization from 2006."Because of the poor communication, or lack thereof, Yarbrough later underwent a surgery that “put unwarranted stress on his cardiovascular system.” Eventually, he “suffered a heart attack induced by the surgery, leading to organ failure and death,” the suit argues. When commenting on the case, Lloyd Bell, Mrs. Yarbrough’s attorney, said:“When patients undergo testing, the physician and the physician’s practice group are responsible for reviewing the results, correctly informing the patient of any important abnormal results, arranging for any appropriate follow-up testing, and ensuring that the results are recorded in the patient’s chart. These tasks are important to patient safety and can be the catalyst for catastrophic results if not performed diligently. In this case, if Dr. Friedland, CardioVascular Group, and Gwinnett Medical Center had done their jobs and met the standard of care, Mr. Yarbrough’s LAD stenosis could have been addressed safely and timely, and the June 2019 post-surgery heart attack and premature death could have been avoided.”At the moment, Mrs. Yarbrough is seeking the “full value of the life taken from her husband,” and also wants compensation for funeral costs and other damages.

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Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Filed Against Gwinnett Hospital SystemCARDIOVASCULAR GROUP: YOUR HEART IS OUR SPECIALTY