On behalf of The Lawrence Firm, PSC posted in Failure To Diagnose on Monday, May 14, 2012
A physician's failure to diagnose a problem may be a common event, but it often can also lead catastrophic consequences. Out in the western U.S. a jury just returned a $3.9 million verdict against a physician who sent a woman home that was suffering from severe migraine headaches and extremely high blood pressure.
What the woman was instead suffering from was bleeding of the brain that could have been identified by a CT scan. Since her condition wasn't immediately treated, she is now paralyzed on the right side of her body.
On behalf of The Lawrence Firm, PSC posted in Medication Errors on Monday, May 7, 2012
Prescription mistakes are occurring at an alarming rate in Ohio and elsewhere in the nation. Unfortunately, such medication errors can often be deadly.
For example, a 10-year old boy had been prescribed Intuniv for ADD. What the pharmacy had provided instead was a medication used to treat schizophrenia. If his mother had not noticed that the pill was a different color and called about her concerns, the boy would probably have taken the medication and died.
On behalf of The Lawrence Firm, PSC posted in Failure To Diagnose on Monday, April 30, 2012
Many veterans are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffering from a variety of mental ailments brought on by what they have seen. Too often, these same veterans are being turned away from various VA Hospitals and are not receiving the treatment that they need. Now such hospitals are finding their selves on the wrong side of accusations in their failure to diagnose mental and psychiatric issues that are being presented.
One such matter involves a widow from Lexington, Kentucky whose husband committed suicide after the VA Hospital there declined to provide him with treatment. Sadly, similar claims are being made in other VA Hospitals throughout the country. Another veteran was hearing voices but doctors refused to have the man admitted because they did not consider him to be a threat to himself or anyone else. He also later committed suicide.
On behalf of The Lawrence Firm, PSC posted in Birth Injuries on Monday, April 23, 2012
Though many parents look forward to the birth of a child, the child birthing process is also immensely complicated and often results in injuries that can burden the child for the remainder of their life. As many as six out of every thousand children born suffer some sort of birth injury in the United States. Some of these injuries are mild, but many more are extremely severe.
Though certain injuries were not preventable, medical malpractice plays a disproportionate share in why such birth injuries occur. All medical providers need to conduct the necessary tests and monitor for any problems that may occur while the mother is in labor.
On behalf of The Lawrence Firm, PSC posted in Hospital Errors on Monday, April 16, 2012
Surgeries performed that result in infection for patients kills approximately 8,000 patients every year. Yet hospitals throughout the country including Kentucky and Ohio are reluctant to report such surgical errors, and this is why a call for new public reporting standards is underway.
Only 21 states in the nation have legislation that requires such reporting concerning surgical site infections, and only eight of those states make such data publicly available. What's worse is that only ten of the 250 procedures performed will be considered in the recording of such information. In fact, many states have different requirements as to just how much information will be reported.
On behalf of The Lawrence Firm, PSC posted in Brain Injuries on Monday, April 9, 2012
It has been shown that general anesthesia can cause various adverse effects more common to children than adults. Oftentimes, the administration of anesthesia can decrease the blood and oxygen flow to the brain. This can come about due to simple miscommunication between nurses, anesthesiologists and their physicians.
Sadly, such mistakes can lead to lifetime disability or even death. Should the patient survive an anesthesia overdose they may still exhibit signs of mental or physical incapacity that will prevent them from ever earning a living or performing the normal functions of life.
On behalf of The Lawrence Firm, PSC posted in Medication Errors on Monday, April 2, 2012
An Ohio pharmacist is awaiting appeal for having her license permanently suspended. It appears that there were a number of irregularities concerning her practice which the court labeled "technical violations." Nevertheless, the violations were deemed serious enough to raise concerns that she was administering medications safely.
At her pharmacy there were unmarked intravenous mixtures and prescriptions shuffled in with her billings. It was also found that she had made medication errors 427 times from 2008 through 2009 when she misbranded a drug.
On behalf of The Lawrence Firm, PSC posted in Hospital Errors on Monday, March 26, 2012
The kinds of hospital mistakes that lead to patient injury often defy reason. The Dayton VA Medical Center has been at the center of a number of allegations that eventually led to a $940,000 settlement. What has been asserted is that a dentist at the Ohio facility implemented improper hygiene procedures that have possibly led to 22 medical malpractice claims. Many of these came about after infection was reported among a number of patients.
There have been as many as 72 total medical malpractice claims at the facility since 2007 and perhaps as many as eight deaths. Besides the payout that has already been made, pending claims are seeking as much as $6.7 million for compensation.
On behalf of The Lawrence Firm, PSC posted in Birth Injuries on Monday, March 19, 2012
Even legislators from other states than Kentucky or Ohio recognize just how devastating birth injuries resulting from medical malpractice can be. The Florida House of Representatives for example approved a $31 million claims bill to provide for the care of a 14-year old boy that was born with severe cerebral palsy due to the medical malpractice of the hospital that delivered him.
This verdict follows up on a jury verdict that was delivered in the boy's favor. It was asserted in that lawsuit that the boy was deprived of oxygen at birth as a result of the improper use of a drug that was prescribed to the mother to stimulate her labor. It is further asserted that the hospital failed to take timely action to correct the circumstances once the problem was discovered.
On behalf of The Lawrence Firm, PSC posted in Failure To Diagnose on Monday, March 12, 2012
The mentally ill often do not get the care that they need, and the severity of their illness is often misdiagnosed. A 30-year old man from Ohio who had been hospitalized a number of times for schizophrenia nevertheless was able to get behind the wheel of a car 18 days after he had attempted suicide. The young man then slammed his car head on into another vehicle killing him and an individual riding in the other vehicle.
Doctors are now relying on a number of medications to treat mental illness rather than provide any long term care or hospitalizations. Though it certainly is desirable that we don't unnecessarily institutionalize such individuals against their will, some sort of acute care is needed for the mentally ill at a time of crisis.
