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.

The family of a Florida woman who died during childbirth was awarded a verdict of $4 million in her wrongful death lawsuit.

The medical malpractice suit was filed by the surviving family of Wendy Leigh Jackson and blamed physicians at the Fort Walton Beach Medical Center for her untimely death which occurred as a result of an artery that ruptured during childbirth.  Jackson died a mere 16 hours after her son was born.

According to court documents, the doctors at the hospital were all aware of the results of an ultrasound that showed that Jackson had bleeding around her kidneys, but did not take action until it was too late.

Amazingly, the defendants submitted the argument that Jackson was partially to blame for her own death based on “contributory negligence”, but the jury rejected this theory.  The settlement is to be divided between Jackson’s son and her widow.

Victims of medical malpractice often think they are capable of filing their own lawsuit without the help of a medical lawyer.  This case is a good example of how the defense can spin theories and creative arguments that may or may not damage the plaintiff’s case.  This is why it’s critical to have an experienced medical attorney on your side.

The son of an 83 year old West Virginia woman has filed a wrongful death lawsuit claiming she died as a result of injuries suffered after falling out of her hospital bed.

Richard Hornick’s mother, Mary, passed away just months after she fell from her hospital bed while she was a patient at the Thomas Memorial Hospital.  His lawsuit claims that her fall was as a result of the negligence of hospital staff.

On December 8, 2007, while Ms. Hornick was an inpatient at the hospital, she was not properly monitored by staff and tumbled from her bed as a result.  The fall caused severe bruising, cuts on her head and arm and a hematoma.  The lawsuit claims that Ms. Hornick should have been monitored more closely because she met the hospital’s high-risk category.

Six months later, the victim died at a nursing facility.  The cause of her death was determined to be primarily due to dementia, but the secondary cause was listed as a cerebrovascular accident, in other words, the fall.

Hospital falls can be so dangerous that the FDA has released a guide to hospital bed safety.

Know someone who suffered after a dangerous fall from a hospital bed?  You should also know your rights.  A medical attorney can explain them to you.

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.

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 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.

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.

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

In 1999, 12 year old Andrew Muno was undergoing surgery on his arm to repair a torn tendon when something went terribly wrong, resulting in his death.  In a clear case of medical negligence, the boy was given an antibiotic that he was allergic to, causing him to have breathing issues and leading to his death.

After a long, drawn out court battle the family won their case in 2006 and was awarded a wrongful death settlement of $7.5 million.

They wouldn’t see any of that money for a while, though, because the anesthesiologist in question, Dr. Dale Gordon, appealed the verdict twice; first to the Appellate Court and then to the state Supreme Court.

The appeals were finally put to rest a few weeks ago when Judge Raymond McKoski ruled that the original verdict be upheld, and awarded the family additional interest, bringing their total settlement amount to $9 million.

The family’s attorney has been quoted as saying, “After nine years of waiting for justice to be rendered for the death of their son, the Muno family is relieved to finally have closure of this horrible chapter in their lives.”

Source: www.suburbanchicagonews.com