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A Supreme Court judge has upheld the dismissal of a Kentucky man’s medical malpractice case because he didn’t have the testimony of an expert witness and therefore failed to prove his claim.

Horace Collier sued Caritas Medical Center and Dr. Robert Blankenship alleging that they were negligent in treating him for the abdominal pain he was experiencing in 2004.  His lawsuit claimed that he was ignored for a period of several hours before having to undergo an appendectomy.
Unfortunately for Collier, he chose not to call an expert witness to testify on his behalf, which left it as his word against the medical professionals.  He didn’t stand a chance.
The truth is, in an effort to prevent having to pay out thousands or even millions of dollars to a plaintiff for a medical malpractice claim, physicians and their defense attorneys will employ whatever means necessary for a victory.  This almost always includes a medical expert, or even a team of them, who will testify that the medical error was not the fault of the doctor or hospital.  If the plaintiff doesn’t do the same, chances are very slim that their claims will hold up in court.

In fact in many states, if you do not have an expert witness, you cannot even expect to get to trial, because the peculiar nature of medical malpractice cases REQUIRES that you hire an expert to explain your case.

A jury trial in the wrongful death case of Paulett Hall has ended in favor of the victim’s family, who were awarded $20,000,000 for their punitive damages.

Hall, a mother of two, was just 32 years old at the time of her death, caused when she aspirated bile into her lungs while she was being anesthetized.  She was to undergo exploratory surgery to find the source of the abdominal pain she’d been experiencing when the tragic error occurred.

Hall’s family is relieved and says they hope their lawsuit will prevent this from happening to anyone else.  They claimed that doctors ignored the more than ten risk factors that Hall presented which made her highly susceptible to pulmonary aspiration.  Despite these risks, Hall’s family alleges that doctors did not take the appropriate precautions.

Surprisingly, even the defendants admitted that there were certain techniques that should have been employed, such as the use of what’s known as rapid sequence induction, to prevent possible aspiration, but they failed to do so.  In fact, just about every medical expert that testified during the trial, including those for the defense, agreed that the doctors in question deviated from the standard of care they should have provided to Ms. Hall.

The entire $20 million was for the punitive damages suffered by the victim’s family.  This is based mainly on Alabama state law, which states that wrongful death damages are meant to reflect the enormity of the wrong while at the same time protect the public from such future incidents.

An Ohio teenager who lost his legs as a result of a flesh eating bacterial infection has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against several doctors and two hospitals, alleging his condition wasn’t properly treated.

Steven Haxton was just 18 years old when he went to the emergency room at Riverside Methodist Hospital last March complaining of pain in his calf.  He was diagnosed with necrotizing fascitiitis, also known as flesh eating bacteria, however it is his claim that the condition was not properly treated in a timely manner leading to devastating results.

According to documents, several days following diagnosis Haxton’s condition was so serious that he was placed on life support and transported to Ohio State University Medical Center.  Although he recovered, he was forced to have both legs amputated to save his life, and has since faced 20 additional surgeries.

Haxton’s lawsuit alleges that doctors and staff at both medical facilities failed to provide him with a level of care that would meet accepted medical standards and he has suffered immeasurably as a result.

Necrotizing fascitiitis, and other types of bacterial infections, can wreak havoc on the body, resulting in further illness, amputation and death.  It is imperative that these types of infections be diagnosed and treated immediately in order to prevent the damages they can cause.  When they are not, medical malpractice may be to blame.  Only an experienced medical attorney will know for sure.

After a two week medical malpractice trial, a Texas jury has ruled in favor of the family of Stacy Meaux, who died after doctors and nurses at Christus Hospital St. Mary misdiagnosed her heart attack.  They awarded the plaintiffs $1.4 million for their loss.

Ms. Meaux reportedly went to the hospital emergency room because she was experiencing chest pains, tightness and discomfort.  After being seen by several triage nurses and Dr. Michael Peterson, she was told that she was in no immediate danger.  She was prescribed the drug Captopril, used to treat hypertension and heart failure, given a breathing treatment and discharged.

The following day, Meaux suffered a heart attack and died.

Court documents state that two EKG’s were performed on Meaux when she was in the ER, one of which was abnormal and her family claims should have raised a red flag to doctors about her risk level.  Additionally, the family claims that hospital staff failed to take into account other obvious risk factors for Meaux, such as her age and weight and the fact that she was a smoker and suffered from diabetes.

Misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose a heart attack is perhaps one of the most deadly forms of medical malpractice because it is almost always fatal to the patient.  The most common things that medical attorneys see when they are working with this type of case typically involve doctors or medical staff:

• Prematurely discharging a patient with chest pain
• Improperly interpreting EKG results
• Prescribing medication without first determining the effect it will have on the patient’s cardiovascular system

Sadly, all three of these things were present in the case of Ms. Meaux, and the results were devastating to her family.  If your loved one suffered a heart attack that you feel may have been misdiagnosed by a doctor, you may be entitled to compensation.  Contact a medical attorney to discuss your case.

A New York woman who is now disabled following a botched surgery has agreed to a settlement in her medical malpractice lawsuit against the surgeons and Vassar Brothers Medical Center.

In September 2003, Martha Meyer underwent a surgery to repair a perforated ulcer.  Less than a week later she was back in the hospital suffering from severe internal bleeding.  The blood loss ultimately caused brain damage, and other injuries including the loss of her teeth, one of her thumbs, and a portion of two of her fingers.

The case went to trial and testimony was heard from expert witnesses and members of Meyer’s family before the defense agreed to a confidential settlement.

Not all medical malpractice lawsuits end up in the hands of a jury.  On the contrary, a great many are settled for an agreed amount.  Some, as in this case, are settled in the midst of a courtroom trial, others are settled before they even end up in front of a judge.

Experienced medical attorneys know how to handle both situations, and can advise you what is best for your unique case.  If you feel you may be a victim of medical malpractice, the first step is contacting a medical lawyer to see if you too may be entitled to compensation for your injuries.

One of the fastest growing elective surgeries in the United States is weight-loss surgery, name gastric bypass surgery.  Typically, those who are obese and have not had success losing weight on their own elect to have the procedure in hopes of reducing their body fat and living a healthier life.  But, as with any surgery, the benefits come with a risk.  Done properly, the results can be nothing short of life-changing, but when performed incorrectly, the patient can face permanent injury or even death.

As with any surgery, particularly elective procedures, there is always a risk to the patient.  The most common complication involving gastric bypass surgery is stomach fluid leakage or bleeding into the peritoneum (abdominal cavity).  This leakage is known as peritonitis and must be diagnosed and treated promptly, otherwise the patient can suffer organ damage, infection and death.

Medical malpractice comes into play when a surgeon punctures the area of the surgery causing the leak, or when the peritonitis goes undiagnosed during follow up treatment.  Patients who suffer from peritonitis and survive may face multiple surgeries to correct the problem putting them at further risk of injury, as well as pain and suffering.

Not every gastric bypass complication constitutes medical malpractice, however.  The most important thing to do when you think you’ve been a victim of negligence is to contact an experienced medical lawyer.  The details of your specific situation will help determine if gastric bypass malpractice did occur and whether or not a lawsuit is warranted.

In a shocking case of surgical malpractice, a doctor at a Riverside California hospital removed a patient’s only healthy kidney.  The man is now left with no kidneys after the diseased one was removed following discovery of the error.

A multitude of errors led up to the final grave mistake, including failure to follow safety protocol, failure to properly communicate with the patient, who speaks Spanish, and forcing the patient to sign a consent form essentially granting them permission to remove the wrong kidney.

Perhaps of most concern, though, is the fact that the doctor who performed the botched surgery did not even have privileges at that hospital to remove either kidney.

Once the medical error was discovered, the hospital then removed the patient’s diseased kidney, leaving him with no functioning kidneys.

Not surprisingly the California Department of Public Health has gotten involved and is actively investigating the incident.  If the hospital is penalized, it may face fines of up to $225,000.

Additionally, it’s pretty certain that there will be a surgical malpractice lawsuit forthcoming, although none has been reportedly filed as of yet.  But certainly the doctors involved in this tragic error should be held accountable for their gross negligence.

Receiving a diagnosis of cancer can be frightening and life-changing.  But what happens when the correct diagnosis is missed or delayed?  As many as 12% of the nearly 1.5 million cancer cases each year are missed by doctors.  That’s an estimated 180,000 people annually.  It’s no wonder there are a steady number of cancer misdiagnosis lawsuits filed each year.

Sometimes the disease is diagnosed as another condition altogether, other times it is missed entirely.  There are even cases in which a doctor incorrectly diagnoses a patient with cancer when they are not actually suffering from the disease.  In any of these situations, the impact can be nothing short of catastrophic.

Cancer misdiagnosis can occur in any number of ways, including:

• The doctor failed to recognize the signs and symptoms of the disease
• The doctor failed to refer the patient to the appropriate specialist
• The doctor or specialist failed to order the proper tests
• The doctor did not properly biopsy the area in question
• The doctor or specialist failed to correctly interpret test results

The outcome of a cancer misdiagnosis can be anywhere from dangerous to life-threatening.  If a patient’s cancer is misdiagnosed as something different, or missed altogether, the delay in required treatment can mean further progression of the disease and even a shortening of the patient’s lifespan.  In cases where a patient is wrongly diagnosed with having cancer, they may be subjected to dangerous and unnecessary treatments or surgery, which can cause them further illness and harm.

People who have been a victim of cancer misdiagnosis, whatever the reason, may have the right to file a medical malpractice lawsuit against the doctor or specialist responsible for the error.  Medical attorneys who represent these victims typically seek monetary damages for things such as medical expenses, lost wages, permanent disability or disfigurement, and pain and suffering.