What the woman was instead suffering from was bleeding of the brain that could have been identified by a CT scan. Since her brain injury wasn't timely treated, the right side of her body is now paralyzed.
]]> Such happenings have occurred in Pennsylvania as well. Too often doctors do not listen to their patients or quickly dismissed the symptoms that are presented.Everyone - including the doctor that purportedly made this mistake - seemed surprised that the hospital's insurer chose not to settle this matter and instead went to trial. The woman's attorney was quoted as saying: "There was not really any legitimate question about who was at fault. It was a case that should have been settled long before trial."
No one should underestimate the trauma that can be caused by a medical mistake or misdiagnosis. The woman injured because of the misdiagnosis was only 34-years old.
She will now require medical care and services for everyday tasks for the remainder of her life. She will likely be limited in the type of profession that she chooses. And she will no longer be able to enjoy life in the same manner as a typical healthy 34 year old woman.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, "Largest Jury Verdict Awarded in Fort Collins, Colo., History," April 19, 2012
]]>Errors made due to such miscommunications can often be avoided by a simple click of a computer rather than by writing out a prescription in detail. There are as many as 37 errors for every 100 prescriptions filled when the doctor writes the prescription out by hand. When e-prescription programs are used by doctors this rate falls to 7 errors for every 100 prescriptions filled - which is still unacceptably high but at least an improvement.
]]> Though most errors concerning the filling prescriptions can result in minor maladies or side effects, there are cases where such a mix-up can lead to severe consequences and even death. At least seven percent of such errors do have the potential for serious harm.When serious harm does result it can lead to long term hospitalization, job loss and a number of other medical complications. For those injured due to mix-ups such as this, attorneys can help clients to at least seek compensation for what has occurred.
It is thought that prescription errors lead to an addition $2 billion in medical costs just at hospitals every year. This does not take into account additional pain and suffering that injured patients must endure. Such errors should not be occurring - especially when there are means for such errors being avoided.
Source: The New York Times, "Chicken Scratches vs. Electronic Prescriptions," by Randall Stross, April 28, 2012
]]>The case concerned an 11-year old boy who was forced to endure a number of additional spinal surgeries due to an earlier surgical error. In that earlier surgery, the boy's surgeon apparently failed to obtain x-ray images that would have shown a benign spinal tumor that could then have been removed and thus necessitated additional surgeries.
]]> The expert witness had testified that he would have performed more radiological tests than the boy's surgeon, even if such tests had been unnecessary. However, the reason why he said he would do this was in order to practice what is called "defensive medicine" to avoid a medical malpractice claim.The boy's attorney objected to this testimony as being irrelevant to the actual medical malpractice that may have taken place. Though the trial court overruled the attorney's objection, the state Supreme Court found what the expert stated may have misled the jury.
Whether such testimony did or did not mislead the jury is open to conjecture, but the presumption continues to be made that too many medical malpractice cases are being tried. What such critics fail to understand is the extreme pain and suffering that a victim of medical malpractice must endure due to surgical errors or failure to diagnose particular conditions.
If the above allegations are true, a young boy had to go under the knife again and again for a condition that could easily have been resolved the first time surgery was performed. In certain circumstances, victims of medical malpractice are bedridden for the rest of the life while suffering unendurable pain. In other cases, patients die due to mistakes made by the surgeons.
Such medical malpractice cannot be tolerated.
Source: Hartford Courant, "Supreme Court Orders New Malpractice Trial Based on Expert Witness' Comments About Health Care Costs," by Edmund H. Mahoney, April 30, 2012
]]>The plaintiffs in this matter claimed that the enormity of the problem was not understood until it was too late as the ultrasound performed by the attending physician was asserted to been done on outdated and poorly maintained equipment. This physician apparently at one point told the mother than the baby had died, which turned out to be incorrect.
]]> Though the physician consistently testified that the ultrasound procedure was performed correctly, a hospital manager testified that the equipment had not been serviced in over a decade. Also, no ultrasound technician was present while the child was being born because the birth took place on a Sunday.Considering the size of the verdict, it is not surprising that the hospital is planning on appealing the case. As in most litigation matters, the process will likely be long before any money actually changes hands. It's always important for attorneys representing injured clients to understand the entire process. Attorneys are always kept busy in such matters because of all of the legal maneuvers that take place by counsel for the hospitals.
Yet when all is said and done, $78.5 million is not such an extravagant verdict when one considers what this child will have to go through during its life. The child is paralyzed and brain damaged, will require constant daily and medical care and will likely be confined to a wheelchair and bed. No amount of money will ever make up for that type of suffering and any compensation received will mostly be spent on care.
Source: The Mercury, "$78.5M malpractice award against Pottstown hospital may be among state's largest," by Evan Brandt, May 4, 2012
]]>In the U.S. there is the availability of a silicon collar being placed around the neck of the cervix in the fetus that may delay birth until a child has a greater chance of survival. Such a device is affordable and can be used even in middle income nations that do not have the advanced medical care as say the U.S. However, to use such a device a doctor must accurately diagnose the women that are at a particularly high risk for delivering a premature birth.
]]> The problems that develop due to premature birth can be quite devastating both for the family and for the child. Often families are not emotionally or financially prepared for what can take place if a premature birth happens.Birth injuries are often some of the most severe and costly of injuries as such injuries can have a lifelong effect. Attorneys will hold such doctors accountable that do not keep up on technology that would prevent birth injuries from occurring.
What's interesting about medical advancements is that there will always be so much more to learn. This is particularly true when it comes to birth of children. For example doctors still do not know why the above collar works in preventing premature births, and such knowledge could lower even more infant mortality and a large number of diseases connected with an early birth.
Source: The New York Times, "Simple Device Helps Delay Birth to Lift Babies' Chances of Survival," by Donald G. McNeil, April 30, 2012
]]>Though ECT has been in use for more than 70-years in Pittsburgh and other areas, there has been little understanding on how it actually works concerning various illnesses such as depression. And unfortunately, the most commonly used form of ECT has also been shown to be the most potentially damaging when it comes to the frontal lobes of the brain.
]]> Essentially, ECT cuts the functioning connectivity of the frontal lobes with the rest of the brain. Why ECT has sometimes worked for patients suffering from depression is because such individuals often have increased activity among the frontal lobes. ECT damages the frontal lobes and thus decreases that activity. However, such damage can be permanent.The success rate of ECT has also probably been overstated. Depressive activity does go down immediately after an electroshock in administered. However, what it is replaced with is apathy and indifference. In other words, ECT may simply destroy a patient's personality at the same time it decreases depressive activity.
Like so many medical treatments that remain untested, the cure is often worse than the disease. When treatments are administered without in exploration of all of the available and often safer options, medical professionals are guilty of medical malpractice. Such medical providers need to be held accountable by injured patients and their attorneys to assure that only the safest of practices are administered.
Source: Huffington Post, "New Study Confirms Electroshock (ECT) Causes Brain Damage," by Dr. Peter Breggin, April 9, 2012
]]>How many medical tests are too many? It is suggested that doctors are ordering such tests because these will bring in money for the medical providers. More importantly, such excessive testing is being excused as a means for hospitals to avoid medical malpractice claims.
]]> The argument has somehow changed shifting the blame for the reasons why medical malpractice claims are filed. Instead of medical providers being blamed for faulty medical practice, many individuals now point the finger at attorneys. Without attorneys the argument goes, doctors would not be conducting so many medical tests.Frankly, doctors should not be practicing medicine if avoiding liability is the only reason why they conduct medical tests. Doctors should always put their patients first. Sometimes this means conducting certain tests and sometimes it means refraining from conducting such tests.
Medical malpractice is not always about a doctor taking the right or wrong action. Medical malpractice occurs when doctors act on other concerns than the best interest of the patient when making medical decisions.
Attorneys and their clients will hold doctors accountable if the doctor allows outside pressure to prevent them from using their sound medical judgment. Without such accountability, patients may be exposed to unnecessary physical risks when exposed to excessive medical testing without other options being explored.
Source: Philly.com, "Medical group fights against unnecessary tests," by Tom Avril, April 4, 2012
]]>It would be a mistake for anyone in the Pennsylvania area to believe that this kind of doctor's error could not affect them. A delayed diagnosis or an error during a routine procedure can be extremely common ways in which medical malpractice takes place.
]]> It's also common to underestimate the trauma that can be caused by a medical mistake. The woman mentioned above is only now learning how to write with her left hand and needs assistance with everyday tasks. Her two children witnessed the stroke and were convinced that their mother was going to die right in front of them.Besides the high blood pressure reading, there were many things that should have alerted the doctor to her condition. The woman had received strong doses of steroids for treating her multiple sclerosis that can cause high blood pressure. Her brain was likely already bleeding when she saw the doctor, but he instead sent her home with pain medication.
Unfortunately, due to the misdiagnosis the woman spent most of the first month after the stroke in a wheelchair. Even today her children have to help their mother walk. We are speaking of a young woman whose hobbies included inline skating and cycling. She hopes to someday return to being physically active, but she mostly has to satisfy herself watching her children play sports while she remains in a wheelchair.
Source: Coloradoan.com, "Fort Collins woman wins $3.9M malpractice suit against former PVH doctor," April 20, 2012
]]>One specific type of bariatric surgery is called laparoscopic adjustable gastric band surgery, or lap-band surgery. According to a news report, a 55-year-old woman died after what may be questionable lap-band surgical errors.
]]> According to reliable sources, the specific lap-band surgical procedure the woman had performed was affiliated with a clinic promoted under the name 1-800-GET-THIN. Last December, the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning to 1-800-GET-THIN surgery centers that the ads promoting the surgery were misleading and failed to sufficiently disclose the risk to patients.The 55-year-old woman who died after her surgery is the subject of a civil lawsuit filed by two former workers of the clinic where the woman had her surgery performed. The workers have two claims that they believe led to the woman's death after surgery.
It was not stated how each of these actions could have specifically resulted in the woman's death. The clinic where the surgery was performed is denying any negligence. It should be noted that four other patients have died in the same area after having the lap-band surgery. Two patients died as a result of peritonitis, one due to a lacerated liver and one as a result of inadequate anesthesia administration.
When a surgical error leads to additional injury, or as in this case, a potentially wrongful death, the negligent party can be held liable for damages including pain and suffering.
The police are investigating the woman's death.
Source: Daily News, "Police investigating death of Ladera Ranch woman who underwent Lap-Band surgery," April 7, 2012
]]>Yet whether the number of c-sections performed actually leads to more birth injuries is a matter of debate. Though induction of labor has likely led to more c-sections being performed in the United States than in other areas of the world, countries with low c-section rates are usually undeveloped and likely have higher mortality rates for children born.
]]> Lawyers are of course being blamed for the number of c-sections performed. The theory goes that doctors will perform a c-section if there is belief that the doctor may be otherwise sued. But since so many lawsuits already involve childbirth issues, few doctors would choose to be obstetricians if they truly feared medical malpractice claims.Medical science is becoming increasingly complex and there's a great danger in oversimplifying statistics that are randomly tossed out to make a point. Higher rates of c-sections performed do not mean that doctors are taking shortcuts when it comes to pregnancy related issues to avoid litigation. If that is how they actually do practice medicine than they should not be licensed doctors.
Every case of medical negligence is unique and has little to do with what kind of treatment is being provided. When an infant is injured in childbirth either by c-section or by the type of anesthesia administered, there is a chance that medical negligence has taken place and must be investigated. Injuries during childbirth can lead to lifelong suffering or even death.
Source: Scientific American, "Cesarean Sections in the U.S.: The Trouble with Assembling Evidence from Data," by Kirstin Hendrickson, March 28, 2012
]]>The woman's father has now brought a wrongful death action against Intuitive Surgery, Inc., the manufacturer of the robot. It is alleged that the robot caused burns to an artery and intestines of the woman that resulted in her death some two weeks after the surgery was performed.
]]> There are various allegations being made in this case related to product defects in the manufacture of the robot. It is being alleged that the manufacturer hid reports concerning complications occurring from use of such robots. However, this may be more than a product liability suit in that there are instances where the surgeon using the robot was negligent in its operation - and it is alleged that this may have been the case in the woman's death as well, and this could thus result in a medical malpractice claim as well.Such a case is complicated because it straddles two diverse areas of law, and it may require the handling of a well experienced attorney in both areas to prove up such a claim. Such an attorney is going to have to establish the role of the product, the role of the doctor and other relevant factors.
In any case, a 24-year old woman should not die as the result of a common surgical procedure. Perhaps her father's lawsuit will establish what happened here and prevent such errors from being repeated.
Source: The Sacramento Bee, "Intuitive Surgical Sued in New York for Death Arising out of use of its da Vinci Robot," by Rheingold, Valet, Rheingold, McCartney & Giuffra, LLP, April 4, 2012
]]>Apparently the anesthesiologist failed to note that the breathing tube used to provide oxygen had relocated while general anesthesia was being administered. It was also asserted that the patient suffered from low blood pressure throughout the procedure, but nobody from the medical staff treated this condition. An autopsy conducted on the deceased woman failed to show any other possible cause for her death other than a lack of oxygen being supplied during surgery.
]]> Probably no one would be too surprised at the size of the verdict seeing that the surgical staff was likely responsible for the woman's death. One attribute of many medical malpractice cases is that the injuries suffered by the victim are often severe or fatal. The administering of anesthesia is now so routine among hospitals that mistakes such as the one mentioned above should never occur.Medical malpractice suits are difficult litigate and probably only about a quarter of such suits result in successful verdicts across Pennsylvania and the United States. This may be in part that many attorneys take on such suits without the experience of litigating such cases against large hospitals and medical insurance companies. This is not the same as saying that no medical malpractice actually took place.
The woman mentioned above was the mother of eight children. None of her children or other family members ever expected that she would die in this manner.
Source: Kalamazoo Gazette, "Lawton family awarded $1.23 million by Kalamazoo jury in medical malpractice lawsuit," by Lynn Turner, April 3, 2012
]]>All Pennsylvania medical providers need to monitor their patients at all times following medical procedures. In this circumstance, the boy was administered a medication regarding a congenital heart condition, but taking of the medication may have then caused the boy to suffer from a perforated ulcer resulting in internal bleeding. The boy died within 30 hours after the medication was given of cardiac arrest.
]]> Delays in diagnosing a condition can lead to permanent injury or death. And though investigation is required, attorneys trying cases in the medical malpractice area often can prove that such a delay resulted in patient harm.There are certain measures that can be taken by patients and family members to make sure a medical staff is doing all that they can to prevent such a circumstance from occurring. Patients or family members can read their own medical records and ask questions of medical staff. It would also be recommended that patients keep a list of medications they take, and also keep a chronology of their past medical history. Such patients should also monitor their own symptoms in the event something is wrong such as a post-operative infection.
Still, patients should not be required to do the work of the medical staff. Hospitals do need to be held accountable when patients die of conditions that should be monitored by staff.
Source: The CT Mirror, "A patient survival guide, from a mother who learned too late," by Arielle Levin Becker, March 8, 2012
]]>In industry, there is a phrase called "stop the line" which is used to instantly stop a production process before a manufacturing mistake occurs. Medical personnel are now using a similar procedure for an even more effective purpose. Manufacturing mistakes usually can be corrected. Medical mistakes are often irreversible.
]]> Making such a process work requires a culture of respect that goes both ways in the relationship between physicians and nurses. Though many hospitals claim that such a culture exists at their facilities, in reality this is unfortunately rare. Hospitals may need to actually practice "stop the line" scenarios during mock procedures and to discuss the results of such procedures with the entire staff.Nurses have to be encouraged to speak up if the "stop the line" process is going to be effective. Unless we are speaking of emergency circumstances where action needs to be taken instantaneously, it seldom hurts for a physician to take an additional 30 seconds to think through a particular process and discuss it with his nursing staff.
Medical malpractice lawsuits brought by lawyers and clients often come about when doctors simply miss the obvious. Despite their advanced training, they are human like everyone else and sometimes need to have a second set of eyes to verify whether they are right or wrong.
Source: Media Health Leaders, "Nursing Borrows a Trick from Manufacturing," by Alexandra Wilson Pecci, March 6, 2012
]]>A woman just received a $22 million verdict because such an unnecessary procedure was performed. This came about when the woman went to her doctor complaining of migraines, an angiogram was then ordered to investigate an abnormal vein (which had nothing to do with the woman's migraines), and it is now purported that the woman suffered a stroke as the result of the unnecessary procedure.
]]> Apparently the woman fell into a coma after a dye for the angiogram was injected into the blood vessels of the brain. The woman who did not wake up until approximately two weeks later discovered that she had lost the use of her arms and her legs.The jury that heard the matter felt that the negligence of the facility that recommended the surgery was a substantial factor in causing the woman's injuries. The facility where the surgery was performed had earlier settled the matter for an undisclosed amount.
Such a scenario demonstrates why attorneys and their clients bring medical malpractice suits. Considering the extent of her injuries, it should be of little surprise that a jury delivered such a large verdict. The woman, who used to work as a property manager for her family's business, will now require round the clock care and be confined to a wheelchair without use of arms or legs for the rest of her life. Though it may be difficult to estimate, the costs of such care would have to be enormous. What's more, such a large verdict might inhibit other hospitals from performing unnecessary procedures in the future that put patients' health at risk.
Source: MercuryNews.com, "Menlo Park woman receives $22 million medical malpractice verdict," by Jason Green, March 21, 2012
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