Shahzaib Bajwa’s family sues US hospital, doctor

The family of comatose Pakistani student Shahzaib Bajwa sued the Cloquet Community Memorial Hospital (CCMH), and the doctor who treated him in the emergency room, Washington Times reported.

The lawsuit filed on Shahzaib’s behalf, which claims that a doctor at the CCMH didn’t quickly ensure that Bajwa’s airway was unobstructed, seeks damages in excess of $75,000. Bajwa suffered permanent brain injury and brain damage as a result of the doctor’s decision, the lawsuit claims. It names the hospital and Dr Peter T Olsen as the defendants. It also alleges that Bajwa is now permanently injured and disabled as a direct and proximate result of Olsen’s negligence.

“Dr Olsen’s failure to timely establish and ensure an adequate airway was a direct contributing cause of permanent anoxic brain injury and damage,” the lawsuit says. It seeks damages in excess of $75,000 to cover medical care and treatment. It also says Bajwa has endured pain, disability and emotional distress, as well as lost wages and a reduced earning capacity in the future,” the lawsuit said.

The suit claims that he suffered permanent brain damage and brain injury as a direct and proximate result of Dr Peter Olsen’s negligence.

The CCMH administration refused to comment on the request Shahzaib, 20, has been in a coma since November, when a deer struck a car carrying him and friends from the city of Minneapolis back to the University of Wisconsin-Superior where he was spending a semester abroad. The deer’s antlers pierced his face and broke his nose, although he was still able to speak. But once at the hospital, he choked on his own blood and suffered a heart attack.

What was meant to be an academic semester abroad through a State Department-backed exchange programme has turned into a complex journey through US insurance, medical and visa regulations for the family from Faisalabad.