Patient counseling is an important aspect of providing patient care. Many patients are unaware of the potential side effects of the medications that they use. Thus, patient medication counseling is a key responsibility of a healthcare provider to ensure patient compliance and adherence. This case is an example of ignorance in providing patient counseling that led to medico-legal litigation on the treating physician.
A 62-year-old female presented to an emergency department (ED) with complaints of fever, headaches, nausea, and vomiting. She had a history of ventricular peritoneal (VP) shunt implant nine years back, after resection of a third ventricle colloid cyst. Furthermore, three months prior to her ED visit, she had undergone surgical repair of a diaphragmatic hernia, which was complicated by post-operative pneumonia. On evaluation of the patient, physical and cerebrospinal fluid…
