Posted on January 01, 2017 in Medical Malpractice

An elderly plaintiff in New Jersey recently settled a medical malpractice case for $1 million after the plaintiff’s orthopedist failed to timely order a diagnostic study that could have diagnosed a potentially catastrophic condition that ultimately led to permanent injury. The plaintiff, age 80, underwent a lumbar fusion surgery. Within a week, she developed the bowel and bladder incontinence and a foot drops, condition which were not anticipated or part of the usually accepted surgical risks. When the plaintiff asked her surgeon about the complications at a post-operative follow-up appointment, he indicated that they were likely temporary in nature and due to the pressure that needed to be placed on her spinal cord during the surgery. Another week passed and the symptoms persisted. The orthopedist then ordered a CT scan. That radiological study demonstrated the presence of a hematoma pressing on the spinal cord, known as cauda equina syndrome, which mandated immediate surgery. Surgery, however, was delayed for 11 days and was ultimately unsuccessful in reversing the foot drop, which worsened, and the incontinence, which is permanent.

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 Posted on January 01, 2017 in Medical Malpractice

An Ohio jury recently awarded the surviving husband and 3 children of a 33 year old woman $5.6 million following an emergency room physician’s failure to refer her to a neurologist for further work-up. Eighteen months prior to her death, the woman had presented to the same emergency room and was hospitalized for treatment of cerebral edema. Cerebral edema refers to an excess accumulation of fluid in the spaces of the brain. Cerebral edema can result from brain trauma or from non-traumatic causes such as an ischemic stroke, cancer, meningitis or encephalitis. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, faintness, seizures and coma. If brain herniation (a potentially deadly side effect of very high pressure within the skull that occurs when a part of the brain is squeezed across other structures within the skull) occurs, patients can experience respiratory compromise or even respiratory arrest. Because of the possibility that cerebral edema can lead to fatal complications, health care providers must always exercise a high degree of vigilance when confronted with signs and symptoms associated with cerebral edema.

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 Posted on January 01, 2017 in Medical Malpractice

An Illinois jury recently awarded a Chicago man over $10 million following a pathologist’s erroneous conclusion that a mass on his right thigh was benign, when in fact, it was a cancerous liposarcoma (a tumor that invades the fatty tissue of the body). The Plaintiff, age 60, developed a mass on his right thigh that persisted for several years. He went to see an orthopedic surgeon, who in turn, referred him for a biopsy. Despite the appearance of abnormal cells on the pathological slide, the defendant pathologist interpreted the cells as being benign. Ultimately, the cancer spread outside of the right thigh, become metastatic in nature and spreading throughout the man’s body. The condition was deemed terminal. The Plaintiff sued the pathologist, arguing that the pathologist should not have ruled out cancer based on the appearance of the cells, and instead, should have asked for a bigger tissue sample to conduct additional tests.

At STSW, our lawyers are routinely contacted about failure to diagnose cancer in a timely fashion cases. In Maryland, in order for a failure to timely diagnose cancer case to be potentially meritorious, the delay must have caused a patient to go from a probability of survival (greater than 50% chance) to a probability of dying (less than 50% chance of survival). Maryland does not recognize what is known as a loss of chance. Meaning, if the delay in diagnosis resulted in a patient’s survivability decreasing from 90% to 60%, there can be no case under Maryland law. The survivability must be below 50% before action can be taken. Often times it is difficult to know the survivability percentages. Doctors do not always tell patients what their “chances” are because no two patients are alike. Our lawyers, therefore, rely on the latest medical literature and expert witnesses to help us understand what a Stage II, Stage III, or Stage IV cancer means in terms of survivability. Not every cancer is equal in terms of these percentages as some are must easier cured than others.

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 Posted on January 01, 2017 in Medical Malpractice

A New Jerseyman recently underwent elective shoulder surgery at a surgical facility outside of the hospital. Immediately prior to the start of the surgery, the anesthesiologist administered anesthesia to the man who, without warning, subsequently developed broad complex tachycardia (elevated heart rate). The anesthesiologist failed to investigate the cause of the tachycardia and elected to move forward with the procedure. Three hours following the procedure, the man died. An autopsy determined that the cause of death was a cardiac crisis resulting from pheochromocytoma a rare tumor of the adrenal gland. The man was survived by his wife, who sued the anesthesiologist and the surgical center for failing to discontinue the procedure to find the underlying cause of the complex tachycardia. The lawsuit also alleged that the decedent should have been administered additional medications and transferred to the hospital for stabilization. The defense, in turn, argued that the man’s condition was rare and unexpected and that there had been no abnormal heart rates seen during the surgery itself.

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 Posted on January 01, 2017 in Medical Malpractice

A Tennessee jury recently awarded the surviving heirs and estate of a deceased 83 year old woman nearly $30 million in a nursing home neglect case. $28 million of the award was assessed as punitive damages against the nursing home.

The deceased suffered a stroke and became partially paralyzed on one side of her body, requiring assistance from nursing home staff at the rehabilitation center at which she was residing. During the summer, the staff identified stage IV pressure ulcers/bed sores on her right foot. Bed sores/pressure ulcers are generally graded on a scale of I-IV, a scale that describes the level of injury to the skin and underlying tissue.

Stage I ulcers are not open wounds. The skin is generally painful but has no breaks or tears. The skin appears reddened but does not blanch or lose color when you press on it.

Stage II ulcers occur when the skin breaks open or forms an uclerated area. The sore expands in the deeper layers of the skin. Often times it resembles a blister.

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 Posted on January 01, 2017 in Medical Malpractice

A Colorado man recently underwent a spinal fusion surgery at the L4-S1 levels of his spine which was performed by the man’s orthopedic surgeon. Over the course of the ensuing several months, the man continued to complain of significant back pain. An MRI was ordered and performed but proved to be inconclusive. The man continued to be prescribed powerful opioids for his pain. Six months later, the man presented to the hospital in excruciating pain and underwent a second MRI. The ordering physician told him that a surgical screw from his spinal fusion surgery was impinging on his nerve. A CT scan was recommended. Notwithstanding the recommendation for a CT scan, the man’s surgeon told him that the scan was not necessary. The man continued to experience significant back pain over the course of the next several years, for which he continued to receive opioid pain medications. Ultimately, the man requested and received a CT scan which revealed that a pedicle screw used in the fusion surgery was in fact impinging on the man’s S1 nerve.

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 Posted on January 01, 2017 in Medical Malpractice

Recently, the family of an elderly New York woman sued a local hospital after one of its employees negligently over-prescribed the woman with a dose of Simvastatin that was nearly 4x her normal prescribed dosage. The woman, 81, suffered had recently suffered a stroke resulting in numbness, loss of sensation and minor paralysis. She was brought by ambulance to the hospital where she was prescribed 80 mg of Simvastatin, a medication that she was taking currently. That dosage, however, was 4x her normal dosage. Over the course of the ensuing several months, the woman began experiencing neck pain and diffuse body stiffness. She was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis and died. The family suded the hospital alleging that the hospital’s employee failed to confirm the woman’s medications and dosages prior to giving her that medication, despite the fact that the EMTs who responded to the scene and who transported the woman to the hospital had the correct information. A jury subsequently awarded the family $1 million.

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 Posted on January 01, 2017 in Medical Malpractice

Earlier this year, the family of a child born with preventable cerebral palsy requiring 24 hour care settled a multi-million dollar medical malpractice lawsuit against a California hospital. In the lawsuit, the baby’s parents argued that during the mother’s delivery, the fetal monitor showed non-reassuring signs over the course of several hours, including heart rate abnormalities. Specifically, it was alleged that the mother experienced a condition known as uterine tachysystole in which excessively frequent uterine contractions occur. Uterine tachysystole is defined as experiencing 6 contractions in a 10 minute period. It is often associated with placental abruption and other abnormalities that can be injurious or fatal to the fetus. In the subject case, a nurse notified the treating obstetrician of the frequent contractions and the physician reviewed the fetal monitoring strips but did not re-evaluate the mother, thereby missing the opportunity to see that the baby was in trouble. The child was born in a depressed condition with Apgar scores of 3 at 1 minute and 6 at 5 minutes. The parents alleged that the hospital and doctor should have delivered the baby via cesarean section much earlier than the child was delivered. Had the baby been delivered timely, the family argued the injuries would not have occurred. The defense countered that the child’s injuries had already occurred by the time the mother arrived to the hospital and that the doctor’s delay in delivering did not cause any injury.

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 Posted on January 01, 2017 in Medical Malpractice

A 39 year old Arizona man recently was awarded $6.3 million after suffering a massive stroke resulting in severe brain damage, vision loss and difficulties walking and speaking.

The Plaintiff, a 39 year old wrestling coach, began experiencing dizziness, neck pain, blurred vision and nausea at practice. He was transferred to Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix. He underwent a CT scan without contrast as part of a stroke work up. That study was negative. The next day he was discharged with a diagnosis of benign positional vertigo. On the way home from the hospital, he suffered a massive stroke. He sued Banner alleging that its doctors failed to include vertebral artery dissection in the differential diagnosis. He claimed that CT scan with contrast would have showed the dissection (whereas the one without the contrast did not) and he would have been prescribed Heparin to avoid a stroke. The plaintiff also alleged the doctors at the second facility failed to review the records from the first facility, and had they done the same, they would have ordered a CT scan with contrast.

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 Posted on December 30, 2016 in Medical Malpractice

A New Hampshire jury this month awarded $5 million to a woman after several procedures by her ophthalmologist left her legally blind.  The woman had been a patient of this physician for a period of eight years.  She was being treated for age-related macular degeneration, a condition that usually responds well to treatment, though it can reduce the quality of a person’s vision.

Following steroid injections, the patient lost much of her vision in her left eye.  Then, after she lost vision in her right eye, the right eye had to be surgically removed because it had shrunken significantly as the result of the treatments that had failed.  A glass eye was inserted in its place.  The lawsuit alleged that the physician injected the right eye with a steroid that was too aggressive and rapidly led to glaucoma, pain and ultimately blindness and the removal of the eye.  Because this patient also had a history of glaucoma, the use of a steroid for early, age-related macular degeneration was alleged to be in violation of acceptable medical care.  The complaint also alleged that this particular physician did not have the appropriate training to be performing these procedures.

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