A St. Louis couple sued and successfully won a verdict in the wrongful death lawsuit in another unfortunate case of failure to diagnose that resulted in the death of their baby son.

Dewayne and Suzanne Blankenship took their infant son Dylan to Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center in June 2002.  They were concerned because the child was exhibiting the symptoms of fever, lethargy and difficulty breathing.

Little Dylan was sent home that night, but returned to the same medical center the very next day, by ambulance.  At that point he was admitted to the hospital and received emergency treatment but it was too late.  The bacterial infection he was suffering from, which had not been properly diagnosed during his first visit to Cardinal Glennon, caused his tragic death just six days later.

The wrongful death lawsuit was brought against St. Louis University because Cardinal Glennon is their affiliate.  The jury in the trial found that the staff at the medical center acted negligently and caused the untimely death of baby Dylan.

The Blankenships will receive over $6 million as compensation for their loss.

The Maryland court of appeals is giving the family of Pearline Brown Rice, who died of cancer after a tumor was misdiagnosed as arthritis, a third chance to fight their wrongful death suit.  The original case ended in favor of the family, awarding them over $11 million, but was overturned, and the first appeal denied.  A judge recently granted them another chance to pursue their claim.

In March 2001, Rice went to the University of Maryland Medical Center complaining of knee pain.  She was diagnosed as having osteoarthritis.  What she really had was a ruptured cancerous cyst, which went undiagnosed for several months.

By the time the disease was discovered, Rice had already lost precious time.  She underwent surgery, amputation, radiation and chemotherapy, but it was too late.  She died in March 2003.

In April 2006, a jury found in favor of Rice’s children, awarding them $11,003,000 in damages, but just a few months later the Medical Center was granted a new trial after a judge concluded that the verdict ran counter to the weight of evidence.

The second time around, the family’s suit was dismissed based on a new requirement that an expert’s opinion be filed along with a lawsuit and an issue involving the statute of limitations.  The Court of Special Appeals found that decision to be incorrect, and has again breathed new life into the wrongful death suit.

A verdict in favor of the defendant or a dismissal of your case doesn’t necessarily mean it’s over.  A good medical attorney will know if you have a chance to appeal your case and how to go about doing so in a timely manner.  If you have found yourself in this type of situation, speak to a medical lawyer about it today.

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.

The family of Heather Sloan, a 29 year old woman who died after doctors failed to diagnose a twist in her intestines, has agreed to settle their wrongful death lawsuit in the amount of $3 million.
In March 2007, the young mother of three went to the Chester Hospital in South Carolina complaining of severe abdominal pain.  The medical staff, informed of the fact that Ms. Sloan had previously undergone gastric bypass surgery, ordered a CT scan of her abdomin and pelvis.  Unfortunately, the results of that test were misread and the problem was subsequently misdiagnosed as constipation.
Sloan was sent home, but the pain continued forcing her to return to the ER two more times.  Doctors finally chose to operate on her, and it was only then that they discovered that Sloan’s intestines were twisted and had cut off the blood supply to her bowels.  By the time the true diagnosis was discovered, it was too late.  Heather died just hours after surgery.
Her family claim that the misread CT scan coupled with a lack of communication among the doctors resulted in wrongful death that could have been prevented had the medical malpractice not occurred.
The doctors decided to settle in the amount of $3 million just days before the trial was set to begin.

Medical attorneys for three separate families have filed wrongful death lawsuits against Tampa based St. Joseph’s Hospital, citing that their children died as a result of contracting a fungal infection while undergoing treatment at the facility.

The suit claims that the three children, ages 2, 5 and 9, were all battling leukemia at the hospital when they were negligently exposed to dust that contained pathogenic fungi. Their weakened immune systems were unable to fight the irreversible infections which led to their deaths.

One medical attorney was quoted as saying that the because of the infection, “these children then were forced to engage in yet another battle”, in addition to their battle with cancer.

According to the claims, the children became exposed to the fungi because their rooms were located above an area of the hospital which was undergoing construction work. The theory is that the dust containing the dangerous fungi was carried into the rooms through the air conditioning system, and the children then inhaled the airborne enemy.

Patients were also exposed when they were occasionally transported directly through construction areas en route to other areas of the hospital.

The hospital denies any wrongdoing.

This is just one example of how hospital infections can have devastating results, the very worst of which is death. If you or someone you love has suffered from a hospital related infection, speak with a medical attorney right away to discuss your rights.

Source: FoxNews.com

The family of a Methuen woman has won their wrongful death lawsuit over the death of Priscilla Jardine, who lost her life shortly after giving birth in 2004.

The 32 year old woman went into cardiac arrest shortly after she was given the blood pressure drug Labetalol, following her ceasarean section.  Her blood pressure dropped to dangerous levels eventually causing her heart to give out.

Her family brought the lawsuit against the doctor who recommended the drug, Dr. Debra Gail Knee, claiming her negligence in doing so directly resulted in Jardine’s death.

A jury agreed.  They awarded the grieving family $2 million in damages.

Unfortunately, medication errors occur all too frequently across the country, and as evidenced in this case, can have irreversible and devastating results.  If you or someone you know have experienced a doctor’s error such as this, you too have rights.  Speak to a medical attorney today to discuss them.

Source: FOXnews.com