A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against Morris Hospital for failing to diagnose a bacterial infection in a patient who later died from the condition.

Brian Hopkins went to the hospital on June 29th, 2008 with severe headaches and vomiting.  He was given blood pressure medication and pain medication and discharged.  Hopkins was found unresponsive in his home on July 1st and rushed back to Morris Hospital.  There a CT scan was performed revealing that he was suffering from bacterial meningitis and swelling of the brain.

Hopkins was air lifted to a different medical facility that was better equipped to handle his severe condition but they were unable to save him.  Hopkins died on July 3rd.

Medical attorneys for Hopkin’s estate claim that Morris Hospital’s failure to diagnose caused Hopkin’s wrongful death.

There is no date set for trial as of yet.

Source:  www.justicenewsflash.com

A 53 year old father from Hollywood Florida has been victorious in his surgical malpractice lawsuit against the doctor who punctured one of his arteries during surgery, leaving him paralyzed and in need of round the clock care.

Francis Ziadie went to Memorial Regional Hospital in 2002 with dizziness and slurred speech.  He was having a stroke.  Doctors immediately gave him medication to help break up a blood clot that was causing the stroke and his symptoms began to lessen.

The problem arose when Dr. Hoang Dinh Doung surgically inserted a stint into Ziadie’s carotid artery meant to prop it open and improve his blood flow.  Unfortunately, during the procedure, he punctured the man’s blood vessel which causes subsequent heavy bleeding into the patient’s brain.

Ziadie, who was just 46 at the time of the incident, now requires constant care from his elderly mother.

The jury in the case found in favor of Ziadie and awarded him and his family $14 million in damages for his pain, suffering and medical expenses.

Source:   www.miamiherald.com

In another disheartening case of nursing home malpractice, the family of a New York woman is suing for her wrongful death after she died while in the care of a Westchester nursing facility.

The patient, 73 year old Verda Henry, went to the facility in 2005 for what she thought would be a short stay while she waited for her fractured arm to heal.  Instead, Henry became a victim of nursing home neglect and developed a dangerous bed sore on her back.

According to court documents both Verda and several members of her family repeatedly requested that she be released so that she could return home.  On every occasion, medical staff refused.  Verda remained in the facility for two years, where her bed sore continued to worsen.

In August 2007, Henry’s daughter discovered the extent of her mother’s injury when she lifted her hospital dress and found that the sore had become large, darker in color and clearly infected.  She then watched her mother suffer excruciating pain while medical staff attempted to clean the wound.  Henry died shortly afterwards.

The family is suing Sutton Park Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation for Henry’s wrongful death.  Family members claim that during their many long visits with Henry, they noted that the staff at the nursing facility were often too busy and neglected even her basic needs.

The care provided to the elderly and aging should exhibit the highest of standards and exemplary service.  Unfortunately, too often this is not the case.  If you suspect that your loved one has been a victim of nursing home malpractice, talk it over with a medical attorney right away.

The parents of a disabled boy living in Nova Scotia recently settled an ongoing lawsuit with the hospital in which their son was born. The plaintiffs received $4.5 million in the settlement over a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Lawsuit Details

The parents of Jacob Sauliner, now 12, claimed in the cerebral palsy malpractice lawsuit that the Valley Regional Hospital is to blame for the current disability that will now affect him the rest of his life.

The battle began nearly nine years ago when the Sauliners filed the suit against their former doctor at the hospital. At the time, the doctor also reportedly served on the Western Regional Health Board. According to reports, in the end both sides chose to avoid an expensive trial and opted for a mediator to be used in the case instead. The settlement was finalized and approved by a justice of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court and is the largest settlement of its kind for a cerebral palsy case in the area.
Reports claim that both legal sides of the case were extremely dedicated to doing what was right for Jacob, as he was clearly the victim in the case. More than half of the $4.5 million will go to medical care for Jacob. There will also be periodic payments made to Jacob throughout his life. Each of Jacob’s parents will also receive $125,000 in the cerebral palsy settlement as well as a special van that will cater to Jacob’s needs.

What is Cerebral Palsy?

Cerebral palsy is a disability that most often affect children from complications during childbirth and during fetal development. Cerebral palsy affects the how the brain functions and develops. The disability also impacts muscle coordination and the overall movement of the body.

There are several therapies that have developed to help those living with cerebral palsy live more comfortably and help further their developmental abilities. However, a cure has yet to be found and hundreds of thousands of children are born with cerebral palsy in the U.S. each year.

A medical malpractice lawsuit involving brain damage to a child during delivery has been reinstated by the Nevada Supreme Court. At issue was the statute of limitations, which the lower court judge ruled had expired after four years and consequently dismissed the case.

However, the Nevada Supreme Court stated that the statute of limitations is 10 years when the malpractice involves a birth injury such as brain damage. The victim in the case suffered a scalpel laceration to his head during his birth in May 1995. He was born by Caesarean section.

The boy’s mother filed a lawsuit against two doctors, one of whom has settled out of court. The case against the other doctor will return to the District Court.

Statutes of Limitations Vary

This case provides an excellent example of how widely medical malpractice statutes of limitations may vary. Though most states have limits ranging between one and five years, there may be exceptions.

Always check with an attorney if you have questions about the malpractice statute of limitations in your state.

The family of a Michigan man who died of a dissected aorta has been awarded a settlement in their wrongful death lawsuit.  The family sued Dr. Arun Gupta stating that because he failed to refer 43 year old Clayborn (Matt) Baker to a cardiologist while under his care during a hospital stay, the patient bled to death internally.

In 2005, Baker went to Mercy Memorial Hospital in Monroe complaining of chest pains.  He was admitted to the hospital, however Dr. Gupta, who treated Baker over the course of 6 days, ignored his repeated requests to be seen by a cardiologist.

The Baker’s family’s medical attorney testified in court that Baker continuously mentioned having a heart problem, and complained that he wasn’t being treated by an expert for his condition.  “He felt he was dying,” the attorney said.

It was argued during the trial that had Baker’s dissected aorta been detected when he first arrived at the hospital, surgical intervention could have been performed immediately and his life likely would have been spared.  Instead, he was diagnosed with an infection and kidney stones and sent home after six days in the hospital.  That same day, he was rushed back to the emergency room where he died.

Dr. Gupta’s lawyer argued that Mr. Baker did not show signs of aortic dissection and was given adequate care by his client while in the hospital.  He also claimed that several other doctors examined

Baker’s X-rays and none of them noticed any problems with his heart.
The jury didn’t see it that way, however, and sided with the plaintiffs, awarding them a settlement of $1.5 million.

Sometimes it’s not a matter of a doctor making a blatant error that causes medical malpractice, but it’s the absence of appropriate and thorough treatment, such as referring a patient to a specialist for further examination that can result in harm to the patient or even death, as in this case.  Medical attorneys are familiar with these types of situations and can help determine whether or not a doctor’s inaction has caused you or your loved one to suffer damages.  Speak with one today to find out more.

Dr. Gary Kao, the Philadelphia Veterans Administration physician accused of botching the prostate cancer treatments he performed on dozens of patients has admitted wrongdoing.

Dr. Kao treated hundreds of men for prostate cancer, using brachytherapy, a procedure in which tiny radioactive seeds are implanted into the prostate to treat the disease. A recent investigation of the VA hospital found that 92 out of 116 patients treated there received incorrect doses of the seeds because they were implanted into nearby organs rather than the intended location.

Perhaps even more disturbing than the fact that he “sometimes missed his target”, as he put it, is the fact that Kao admitted under questioning that he failed to inform the patients when he made the errors nor notify them that they had received an incorrect dose as a result.

The brachytherapy program has been suspended at the VA hospital where Dr. Kao performed the botched treatments, and although he still maintains his medical license, he has stopped performing the surgeries and has taken a leave of absence as of last week.

It is unclear the number of medical malpractice cases that will come as a result of this doctor’s negligence, but it is certain that there will be many victims that he will have to answer to.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529544,00.html 

The term medical malpractice usually conjures up images of a doctor physically harming patients, leaving them injured or hurt.  There is another kind of negligence, however, that rarely results in a patient suffering from any kind of physical pain or harm, however victims of this type of malpractice can suffer just as much.

In cases of psychiatric malpractice, victims are left with mental and emotional, rather than physical scars.  But if this type of malpractice seems somehow less damaging than others, it isn’t.  In fact, the results of psychiatric malpractice can be equally devastating, if not more so.

Such is the recent case of young Ashlie Bunch, who committed suicide while supposedly under the care of trained psychiatrists and staff at the McGraw Residential Center in Seattle.  She was just 15 years old.

Ashlie’s adoptive father Steve recalls a somewhat troubled child who “thrived with love” but also suffered from a mental illness.  When she began acting out, threatening teachers and bringing a knife to school, she was ordered by a judge to enter a psychiatric facility.

In a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Ashlie’s family, the facility’s staff was supposed to check on her every five minutes.  They neglected to do this, and on January 29, 2008, the teenager hung herself in her room with a pair of shoelaces.  Perhaps most concerning is the fact that the shoelaces were given to Ashlie by a staff member.

Psychiatric malpractice and negligence may not result in visible bruises and scars on its victims, but the damage it does to those already suffering from mental illness is often far worse.  If you feel that you have been hurt by a psychiatrist or mental healthcare provider, you should know your rights.  Contact a medical lawyer to discuss your situation right away.

A jury in Virginia has awarded what is believed to be the state’s largest medical malpractice recovery, $7.5 million, to the surviving family of Eleanor Browder who died as a result of a misdiagnosis of breast cancer in the form of a delayed diagnosis.
In March 2003 Browder went to see Dr. Donna Gamache after she found a notable lump in her right breast.  Nurse Practitioner Mary Nichols ordered a mammogram which came back with negative results.
The results of the mammogram were delivered to Dr. Gamache, at which point she examined them and wrote “Need chart” at the top.  Neither the nurse nor the doctor ever retrieved said chart, nor were any further tests ordered as a follow up to the mammogram to determine exactly what was causing Mrs. Browder’s lump.

By the time Browder returned to Dr. Gamache in October, the lump in her right breast had grown to the size of a lemon.  It was then that an ultrasound and a biopsy were ordered and the cancer was finally diagnosed.  But by then it was too late.  The cancer was at a stage IV, and incurable.  Sadly, Mrs. Browder passed away last April, before her complaint made it to trial.  Her husband and two adult children continued the case following her death.

The medical attorney for the Browder family argued that had the cancer been properly diagnosed seven months earlier, when the original mammogram was performed, Browder’s survival rate would have been greatly increased.

The jury allocated $212,000 of the award to medical expenses, $785,000 for economic loss and $6.5 million to Mrs. Browder’s widower, Paul, for “solace”.  Unfortunately, the damages will be reduced to $1.65 million, the state-mandated medical malpractice cap.

A delayed diagnosis of cancer can mean the difference between a full recovery and certain death.  If you or a loved one has suffered further losses due to a missed or delayed cancer diagnosis, or you have lost a family member as a result of this type of medical negligence, please don’t hesitate to discuss your situation with an experienced medical lawyer.

Source:   Fredericksburg.com

Dr. H. Mehrdad Sadeghi is currently under investigation by the state medical board for his negligent treatment of two patients, one of which died.  The doctor has been banned from performing heart procedures at both the Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center and Scripps Mercy Hospital Chula Vista because of his history of medical malpractice and failure to meet accepted standards of care.

According to reports given by two other physicians who worked at Sharp hospital, Dr. Sadeghi “made unnecessary efforts and failed to ask for help from other physicians when his efforts went awry.”  They reviewed over 60 of the doctor’s cases since 2006 and found his care to be substandard.

Sadeghi spoke out to the media defending his name and denying any wrongdoing.  “Someone with my education and training doesn’t all of a sudden become incompetent,” he stated.

The state medical board disagreed.  In fact, in a 10-page complaint they cited Sadeghi with “gross negligence”.

It could take months for the board to decide whether to suspend Sadeghi’s license or revoke it altogether.

Source:  SFGate.com