Medical Malpractice

According to an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), over 225,000 people die each year due to Medical Malpractice of one kind or another making it the third leading cause of death in the United States after deaths from heart disease and cancer.

• 12,000 deaths per year from unnecessary surgery
• 7,000 deaths per year from medication errors in hospitals
• 20,000 deaths per year from other errors in hospitals
• 80,000 deaths per year from infections in hospitals
• 106,000 deaths per year from adverse effects of medication

Physicians owe a duty of care to those who seek their treatment. Once a doctor agrees to treat a patient, he or she has a professional duty to provide competent care. As lawyers, we must be able to prove some actual, compensable injury that is the result of the Physician’s treatment. Proof of injury can include the physical effects of the treatment performed, but can also include emotional effects. The amount of compensation at issue is usually a highly contested part of the litigation. Causation may also be a vigorously litigated issue because a physician may allege that the injuries were caused by factors unrelated to the alleged negligent medical treatment. We provide experts who will carefully evaluate all of the factors leading up to the alleged malpractice to prove the issue of causation by a preponderance of the evidence.

Decubitus Ulcers or Bed Sores:

We are now accepting cases involving bed sores also known as Decubitus Ulcers. Bed sores can pose a risk to people who are confined to bed with an acute illness or injury, but the greatest risk is posed to people with spinal cord injuries and those permanently bed ridden, such as the elderly. The elderly population accounts for the majority of cases of bed sores. Their skin is typically thinner, and they are often underweight, a combination that optimizes conditions for the formation of bed sores. Other conditions that increase the risk of bed sores include a decrease in pain awareness, incontinence and malnutrition.

Bed sores can range from a very mild pink coloration of the skin, which disappears in a few hours after pressure is relieved on the area, to a very deep wound extending to and sometimes through a bone into internal organs. These ulcers, as well as other wound types, are classified in stages according to the severity of the wound. All decubitus ulcers have a course of injury similar to a burn wound. This can be a mild redness of the skin and/or blistering, such as a first-degree burn, to a deep open wound with blackened tissue, as in a third degree burn.

The usual mechanism of forming a decubitus ulcer is from pressure. However it can also occur from friction by rubbing against something such as a bed sheet, cast, brace, etc., or from prolonged exposure to cold. Any area of tissue that lies just over a bone is much more likely to develop a decubitus ulcer. These areas include the spine, coccyx or tailbone, hips, heels, and elbows, to name a few. The weight of the person's body presses on the bone, the bone presses on the tissue and skin that cover it, and the tissue is trapped between the bone structure and bed or wheelchair surface. The tissue begins to decay from lack of blood circulation. This is the basic formation of bed sore development.

If you have a loved one who is suffering from bed sores as a result of confinement in a hospital or nursing home, call us at 631 331-8071. We may be able to help.

Birth Defects:

If your baby was born with a birth defect, it may be the result of medical malpractice during pregnancy, labor and delivery. Obstetricians and other healthcare providers are educated and trained to monitor all situations of pregnancy and labor and to make decisions that will result in babies being born healthy. Parents of children with birth defects know that this is not always the case. Birth defects include: Cerebral Palsy, Erb’s Palsy / Erb-Duchenne Palsy / Klumke’s Palsy / Brachial Plexus Paralysis.

Causes of birth defects can include:

• Failure to perform c-section when it becomes evident that a vaginal delivery is too risky.
• Failure to diagnose medical conditions such as preeclampsia or gestational diabetes, which can lead to premature birth, complications and birth defects.
• Failure to prevent and diagnose infections.
• Improperly administered spinal or epidural.
• Excessive force to deliver the baby such as forceful use of forceps and vacuum.
• Large baby (macrosomic) / small pelvis – baby becomes stuck and should have been delivered via caesarian section (c-section) rather than vaginally.
• Failure to recognize that the umbilical cord is tangled around the baby or wrapped around its neck (prolapsed cord).
• Failure to recognize irregular fetal or maternal heartbeat.
• Failure to recognize placental abnormalities such as placenta previa and placental abruption.
• Failing to provide proper medical attention and assessment to the newborn in a timely manner following delivery.
• Failure to inform pregnant women about teratogens such as certain dangerous medications.

If your child was born with a birth defect that you believe was caused by a medical mistake or malpractice, you have valuable legal rights and are urged to contact us today for a free legal consultation. You can contact us from this website or call toll free at 800 427-8071.

Misdiagnosis

One of the most common forms of medical malpractice occurs when a doctor or other health care professional makes a misdiagnosis or fails to properly diagnose an illness or injury. When the lack of a proper diagnosis injures a patient, and the mistake was not one that a reasonable professional would make, the misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose may be grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Misdiagnosis and failure to diagnose constitute medical malpractice when the diagnostic error is not one that most reasonable professionals would have made.  For conditions and injuries that most medical professionals are expected to be familiar with, diagnostic errors may be malpractice.

Failure to properly diagnose a disease may result in the patient undergoing expensive and sometimes painful treatment for the wrong problem, while the original condition is allowed to continue.  This can result in permanent residual consequences to the patient.

When a health care professional fails to diagnose an illness or injury that most reasonable professionals would have correctly diagnosed and that misdiagnosis results in an injury to the patient, medical malpractice may be indicated.

If you believe you’ve been the victim of malpractice, or you have a loved one who was the victim of misdiagnosis, contact us right away at 1 800 427-08071 to avoid missing the shorter time period after the malpractice in which you have to file a suit. This is generally 2 years but can vary.

Common mistakes in diagnosis include ovarian cancer, breast cancer, bowel cancer, cervical cancer, endometrial cancer, colon and rectal cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, bladder cancer, stomach cancer, gall bladder cancer, pancreatic cancer, thyroid cancer, esophageal cancer, liver cancer, oral cancer, skin cancer, brain cancer, testicular cancer, leukemia, lymphoma and other blood cancers as well as Bacterial Meningitis misdiagnosis.

Surgical Errors

When surgery is performed improperly and causes unnecessary pain and suffering or the need for additional surgeries to correct the original condition or complications of the original surgery, Medical Malpractice may have occurred. This can include:

• Incorrect surgical procedure performed.
• Incomplete tumor removal.
• Incisions too large and cut into surrounding tissue.
• Cutting into nerves which results in nerve damage, muscle problems, lasting pain or loss of function.
• Surgery is performed on the wrong part of the body (wrong limb, etc.).
• Surgery is not done under sterile conditions, which leads to infection.
• Failure to treat infection that develops after surgery.
• Wrong blood type is given during surgery.
• Wrong medical device implanted.
• Surgical instruments are left in the body and discovered later after complications arise.
• Surgery is performed when surgery is not needed or indicated.
• Anesthesia errors, which can result in waking up during the surgery or other problems.
• Errors in judgment during the surgery in response to unforeseen situations and circumstances.

Anesthesia Errors

Anesthesia errors are a type of medical malpractice that can affect the victim long after the surgery or procedure. If you suffered an anesthesia error, contact us today at 800 427-8071 or fill out our contact form for a free legal consultation about your case.

Medication Errors

Doctors, nurses and pharmacists are all responsible for a portion of the medication errors that occur each year. Doctors can be at fault for writing incorrect prescriptions and dosages, nurses can be at fault for administering the wrong medication to a patient or failing to confirm that the person is the correct patient, and pharmacists can fill prescriptions negligently, mislabeling medications or providing the wrongs meds at the wrong dosage. Consequences can result from medication errors including overdose, allergic reaction, hepatotoxicity (drug-related liver damage), and more.

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