Case Studies

When a patient with a recently implanted artificial heart valve arrived at the hospital in shock, the correct diagnosis of bacterial endocarditis was initially noted—then inexplicably ignored. Sent home with an aggressive infection ravaging his heart, the patient suffered catastrophic and fatal consequences. This case study details how Lupetin & Unatin, LLC investigated this devastating diagnostic failure to secure justice for his grieving family.

Following a routine delivery, a newborn baby was not breathing. Instead of performing immediate, standard neonatal resuscitation, the medical team hesitated, wasting critical minutes while the infant was deprived of oxygen. The delay caused severe, permanent brain damage and lifelong developmental challenges. This case study details how Lupetin & Unatin, LLC proved the medical team deviated from standard protocols and secured justice for the family.

When a patient presented with severe back pain and neurological symptoms, critical medical details were lost during a flawed hospital handoff and transfer of care. Because vital information was omitted, essential spine imaging was delayed for days while a spinal epidural abscess crushed the patient’s spinal cord, resulting in permanent paralysis. This case study illustrates how communication breakdowns lead to catastrophic delays, and how Lupetin & Unatin, LLC uncovers systemic failures to secure justice for families.

When a patient sought emergency care for severe, sudden abdominal pain, his medical team discovered a large, symptomatic aortic aneurysm. Instead of performing emergency, life-saving surgery, they relied on inaccurate measurements and chose to discharge him with a “wait and see” approach. Days later, the aneurysm ruptured, resulting in his tragic and entirely preventable death. This case study details how Lupetin & Unatin secured justice for his family.

When a patient sought emergency care for severe chest pain, he relied on his medical team to accurately read his EKG. Tragically, an obvious ST-elevation pattern was repeatedly misread as “nonspecific” over four days, resulting in a delayed heart attack diagnosis and fatal cardiac arrest. This case study details how these critical diagnostic failures occurred and how Lupetin & Unatin, LLC fought to secure justice for his grieving family.

When a Pennsylvania woman underwent a hysterectomy to resolve a frightening diagnosis, she expected it to be a definitive surgical cure. Instead, her surgeon performed the wrong procedure—a negligent “cut-through” hysterectomy that dangerously compromised her health and required extensive follow-up care. This case study examines how a routine operation turned into a medical nightmare, and how Lupetin & Unatin held the surgical team accountable.

Wrong-level spinal surgery is a “never event” that can leave patients with permanent nerve damage and the need for extensive, life-altering fusion. When surgeons fail to operate on the correct disc, the actual problem goes unaddressed while healthy tissue is unnecessarily fused. Lupetin & Unatin, LLC represents Pennsylvania families devastated by surgical errors. Discover how our attorneys hold major medical institutions accountable for these preventable tragedies.

A young woman’s severe headache was dismissed as a migraine. Twice. By the same emergency room doctor. The blood clot in her brain was never diagnosed. One month after her wedding, her family was planning her funeral. Lupetin & Unatin represented the family of this young woman. The case resolved with a multi-million dollar settlement.

This case study examines how medical negligence — specifically, the repeated failure to investigate a dangerous secondary cause of headache — led to a tragic outcome, and what it means for patients and families who may be facing a similar situation. After several days of doctors failing to properly investigate his symptoms, a patient lost his life to a treatable infection.

Most people think of anesthesia as the part of surgery where you “go to sleep.” And for most patients, that’s more or less how it feels. But anesthesiologists are doing something far more complex and far more dangerous than simply administering medication. They are temporarily eliminating your body’s ability to protect its own airway and taking full responsibility for keeping you alive in its absence. When that responsibility is met with carelessness, inadequate preparation, or poor decision-making, the results can be catastrophic, even deadly.

A Pittsburgh family’s worst nightmare began with a simple fever check at an urgent care clinic. Within hours, their vibrant 14-month-old daughter was gone—not from her illness, but from a medical system that failed to recognize a screaming emergency. This is the story of how Lupetin & Unatin held a Pennsylvania healthcare system accountable for missing what every medical professional should have seen: a heart rate so dangerously high it should have triggered an immediate code.

What should have been a routine evaluation for a woman in Armstrong County turned into a harrowing battle for survival due to a series of avoidable medical oversights. In November 2021, Patricia, a 59-year-old woman, sought medical help for post-menopausal bleeding—a classic “red flag” symptom that every gynecologist knows requires immediate investigation for endometrial cancer.