The death of a 10 year old British boy is being blamed on medical malpractice and has caused quite a stir among the medical community there and across the globe.

Kieran Howard’s problems started with a simple sneeze at his home last March, which inadvertently caused a tumor in his brain to burst.  He was taken to the hospital where, instead of being properly tested and monitored, he was made to wait some 12 hours and moved between three medical facilities before he finally died as a result of his condition.

Coroner, Dr. Fiona Wilcox, who performed the autopsy on the boy says he would be alive today had his condition been properly diagnosed in time and the life-saving surgery he required had been performed.  Dr. Wilcox cited the hospital staff with neglect, and called the whole situation a “gross failure”.

Neither the hospital, nor its staff has offered any explanation as to why Howard was so severely neglected.  There is also no report yet on whether the family plans to file a medical malpractice lawsuit, although it is more likely than not that they will.

Hospitals are supposed to be a place that we can go for help - and the doctors who work there are supposed to be trained and ready to handle any emergency situations that arise.  Unfortunately, sometimes there is a failure to do so, and the results can be injury or even death.  Have you or someone you love been harmed by an emergency room physician?  Did you suffer an injury due to hospital staff’s neglect?  If you have, then you may be entitled to compensation for your damages.  It is in your best interest to contact a medical attorney right away to find out more.

Source: www.thisislondon.co.uk

An Arkansas doctor who is being sued for the wrongful death of a successful advertising agency owner is denying any responsibility in the man’s death and placing the blame back on the patient claiming he ignored medical advice and neglected to seek follow-up treatment.

Dr. Stephen Hennigan, among others, is being named in the lawsuit claiming that he failed to address patient Gregg Ogden’s repeated complaints of constipation just prior to his death two years ago.  The suit claims that rather than investigating the pain and symptoms that Ogden was experiencing, the doctor merely treated him for chronic constipation.

What Ogden really had was a perforated bowel.  The perforation was repaired soon after it was discovered, but by that time the resulting leakage caused sepsis.  This deadly infection ultimately caused Ogden’s organs to shut down, and he suffered renal and respiratory failure.  He died just a few days later.

Dr. Hennigan, who denies being Ogden’s primary care physician, claims that the patient died not as a result of medical negligence, but because he repeatedly refused follow-up treatment and did not take his medication regularly.

Ultimately it will be up to a jury to decide.

Ogden’s estate is suing for an undisclosed amount for his wrongful death.

A New York jury has awarded a $3.1 million to the estate of John T. Benigno, for the medical malpractice that caused his wrongful death.

In January 2002, Benigno went to the South Shore Heart Associates where he was treated by Dr. Stephen Horowitz for cardiac symptoms.  He already had a medical history of high cholesterol and heart disease ran in his family.  The doctor ordered a nuclear stress test, which produced negative results.

Benigno returned to the same facility in December 2003 complaining of the same symptoms and saw Dr. Horowitz again.  Rather than ordering a new nuclear stress test, however, Horowitz instead relied on the negative results of the previous test, which had been conducted nearly two years earlier.

Within six months of this visit, Benigno had a heart attack and died.  He was 40 years old and left behind a wife and two young children.

The medical attorney for Benigno’s estate alleged that had a repeat nuclear test been performed during his second visit to Dr. Horowitz, the occlusive artery disease which killed him would have been detected and Benigno would likely still be alive today.

The jury took just one day to deliberate after three weeks of testimony and ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, awarding $3.1 million to cover the damages suffered by Benigno’s widow and children, as well as loss of parental care and guidance.

If you suspect that a loved one may have died as a result of medical negligence, contact an experienced medical attorney to find out more.

Source:  www.prnewswire.com

The medical malpractice trial in the wrongful death of Anne Ryan is set to begin this week.  Ryan died in September 2007 of bacterial meningitis.

The lawsuit was filed by Ryan’s brother Jed and names the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania as the defendant.  Ryan was a student at the university at the time of her death.

According to court documents, Ryan went to the hospital showing all the symptoms of meningitis.  She underwent numerous testing, including a lumbar puncture, and was discharged with a prescription for antibiotics.

Ryan returned two days later still severely ill and this time underwent a CT scan that revealed brain swelling.  Shockingly, even after the results of the CT were revealed, Ryan was given another spinal tap, which the lawsuit calls “unnecessary” and “risky”.  The procedure caused Ryan’s brain to herniate and she died the following day.

The University, in their defense, is claiming that Ryan “unquestionably did not have meningitis when she was tested in the Emergency Department”.

Both sides are expected to produce expert witnesses to support each of their claims.

Source:  http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com

A somewhat surprising update to a case first discussed here in July, involving two Kansas doctors who were facing multiple charges of prescription malpractice following the death of one of their patients from an overdose.

One of the two physicians, Dr. Lawrence Simons, has voluntarily surrendered his medical license to the state Medical Board in an attempt to avoid further disciplinary actions against him.

Along with his former medical partner, Dr. Stephen Schneider, Simons was brought up on allegations of excessive prescribing of a controlled substance, failure to properly keep written medical records, unprofessional conduct and a host of other violations.

Surrendering his license may get Simons out of hot water with the Medical Board, however there are still 36 criminal charges pending against him and roughly half a dozen medical malpractice lawsuits, including the one involving the wrongful death of a patient.

There has not been an update reported regarding Dr. Schneider to date.

Source:  www.kansas.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 widower of an Indiana woman who died from complications after a surgical pad was left inside her body was awarded a verdict of $2.2 million for her wrongful death.

The unnamed patient had a history of a fatty liver and was in need of a liver transplant at the time she underwent heart bypass surgery and a valve replacement.  Although the surgery was successful, a surgical pad was accidently left inside the patient when she was closed up.  It took nearly a month to discover the foreign object, at which point the pad had become adhered to her heart.
The patient then underwent further surgery to remove the pad which caused multiple perforations to her heart.  She suffered a slow death over the course of five long weeks, due to multiple organ failure.

Much debate in the surgical malpractice case surrounded the patient’s already failing health at the time of the surgical error.  She was only 68 years old, however her life expectancy was significantly decreased due to her liver disease, heart disease and other conditions from which she suffered.

In the end, the jury in the trial placed a value of $2.2 million on the woman’s wrongful death.  This amount will be reduced to $1.25 million, the state damages cap in Indiana.

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.

There has been another delay in the wrongful death trial over an Irish woman who died following plastic surgery she had in Manhattan in 2005.  The pre-trial hearing has been set for June.  The accused, Dr. Michael Evan Sachs, has been dubbed “Dr. Botch” by the media due to the lengthy list of medical malpractice claims against him, totalling more than 30 since 1995.

Kay Cregan, 42 year old mother of two, underwent a facelift with Dr. Sachs on March 14, 2005.  Shortly after the surgery she collapsed in a recovery room.  She died several days later when she was removed from life support.

Sach’s medical license has since been revoked, though it is unclear why it took so long, and so many malpractice cases, to prompt this disciplinary action.  It is said that he currently maintains the worst malpractice record in the US.

The trial, which was supposed to begin back in January 2008, has been delayed multiple times, frustrating the Cregan family and preventing them from receiving the justice they rightfully deserve.  They are seeking unspecified monetary damages based on the loss of a wife and mother as well as Ms. Cregan’s pain and suffering that she endured in the days before her death.

If ever there was an example of the importance of researching the doctors with whom you plan to seek treatment, this is it.  With a history like Dr. Sach’s, it should have been evident that to undergo surgery with him would present a risk not worth taking.  Unfortunately, many people skip this critical step when seeking medical care and end up victims of medical malpractice as a result.

If you have suffered at the hands of a negligent doctor, or lost someone you love to medical malpractice, you may be able to receive compensation for your loss.  Speak with a medical attorney right away to find out how.

What is wrongful death?  To put it simply, it is when someone dies as a result of another person’s negligence.  These types of cases are usually brought as civil cases, rather than criminal, and most often by the family of the victim.  There are certain elements that must be proven in order for a wrongful death claim to be successful.

• The death was the result of the defendant’s actions
• The defendant is at fault for the death
• The death caused a financial loss
• There is at least one person that is able to collect damages on behalf of the deceased

Not everyone can sue for wrongful death.

It is important to know that not everyone is entitled to sue for wrongful death.  Typically each state has statutes which determine who is eligible to file a wrongful death lawsuit.  For the most part, the decedent’s next of kin or surviving spouse is allowed to file suit.  Additionally, children may sue on behalf of their deceased parents and vice versa.  The statutes in each state should be checked prior to filing suit, however, to be sure.

Know the limitations.

Some states impose limitations on the amount of damages that can be collected in a wrongful death suit.  It ultimately depends on in which state the lawsuit is being filed.

The best way to determine if you are entitled to sue for the wrongful death of a loved one is to meet with an medical attorney that specializes in that particular field.  He or she will be able to explain the laws and what your options are, and represent you should your case go to trial.