Bernie Mac’s widow drops wrongful death case, may refile

If you keep up with celebrity news in Florida, you may remember that the late Bernie Mac’s widow had headed to court with a wrongful death lawsuit. She has decided to drop the case, but her attorney claims that they will be looking at refiling it, since they have another year before the statute of limitations would be enforceable. This case is one you may want to keep an eye on, as it is complicated and involves potential medical malpractice due to incomplete patient record sharing.

The case focuses on the death of actor and comedian, Bernie Mac. He passed away at age 50 on Aug. 9, 2008 due to complications from pneumonia that he had previously been diagnosed with by a separate physician than the one who was being sued. The lawsuit claims that the doctor treating Mac for head, neck and facial lesions, who was not responsible for the pneumonia diagnosis, dragged out the dermatological appointment on July 17, 2008, failing to send Mac to a hospital for emergency care once he did take notice of his lesions.

The doctor’s attorney claimed that the doctor did not know that Mac had pneumonia. He alleges that if the doctor had known, he would have sent him to the hospital immediately. Why would facial lesions have anything to do with pneumonia? According to an educational source, certain kinds of pneumonia, particularly the type that evolves from P. aeruginosa, can present with skin lesions at the start.

A wrongful death that is a result of medical malpractice or a doctor’s failure to recognize an emergency situation needs to be investigated. As a widow of a person who has passed, you deserve the right to compensation and answers for what happened to your loved one.

Source: Chicago Sun Times, “Bernie Mac’s widow drops wrongful death lawsuit against doctor” Stefano Esposito, Jan. 29, 2015