The Difference between Misdiagnosis and Failure to Diagnose

May 30, 2009

From a victim’s standpoint, there may not seem to be much difference between a doctor misdiagnosing your ailment and failing to diagnose it altogether.  Either one could potentially result in injury and a subsequent medical malpractice claim, right?  While this part is true, the law makes a clear distinction between the two.

Misdiagnosing an illness typically entails a patient being told that they have something medically wrong with them that they don’t really have.  Usually, the subsequent treatment that follows a misdiagnosis is what causes injury and harm to a patient.  Additionally, when an illness is misdiagnosed, the real problem continues to go undetected and proper treatment is not administered as timely as it may require.  Because of this, misdiagnosis victims are actually dealing with two issues: misdiagnosis of the actual condition and the failure to diagnose the correct medical problem.

Aside from misdiagnosis cases, there are situations in which doctors completely miss the symptoms or manifestations of a medical condition altogether.  This failure to diagnose can have devastating results on the patient, particularly when the condition is life-threatening or one for which treatment is recommended be started as soon as possible.  For example, a patient who is suffering from a form of cancer seeks medical treatment for unexplained symptoms he or she is experiencing as a result of the illness, however the doctor simply dismisses the patient without detecting the underlying condition, the subsequent treatment may be delayed and the patient’s health is put gravely in danger.

In cases of misdiagnosis, patient may suffer damages from the subsequent unnecessary treatment that they would not have had the condition been properly identified.  Additionally, the actual illness may progress and worsen while it is going unrecognized, causing further health issues.

Failure to diagnose can have even more disastrous to the patient in that a life threatening illness may not be caught in time for it to be controlled and treated.  When that is the case, it is often too late and the patient’s life can be significantly shortened as a result.

In either case, victims can and should fight back against the offending doctors and seek justice for the damages they have suffered.

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Posted by Dave Austin

Israeli Doctor Gets 8 Years in Prison for Anesthesia Malpractice

May 29, 2009

A court in Tel Aviv, Israel found anesthesiologist Dr. Svetlana Rousso-Lupo guilty of manslaughter in the death of a child while under her care.  The doctor has been given an eight year sentence, the harshest punishment the country has ever imposed in a case of medical malpractice.

The case surrounded the 2005 death of 3 year old Neta-Li Borosky, who was undergoing surgery to correct her crossed eyes.  Dr. Rousso-Lupo reportedly administered too much anesthesia during the surgery which effectively caused the child to overdose.  Additionally, the monitor that is used to alert attending physicians of any problems during the procedure was turned off by Dr. Rousso-Lupo, thereby causing the overdose to go undetected until it was too late.
The child essentially went to sleep during the surgery and never woke up.

The court has stated that they believe the defendant “didn’t want the child to die, but all her actions led to an unnecessary death”.

The truth is, medical malpractice, in most cases, isn’t a purposeful act on the part of the doctor.  However, when a physician acts carelessly, malpractice is often the result.  Error or not, someone must be held accountable.  This case is a perfect example.

If you suspect that a doctor’s negligence is a cause of your injury or damages, you should talk to a medical attorney right away.  They will review your individual situation and help you determine if you have a legitimate medical malpractice claim on your hands.

Source:   www.haaretz.com

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Posted by Dave Austin

Medical Malpractice Defenses

May 28, 2009

If you’ve been a victim of medical malpractice, you have already been subjected to injury, damages and emotional distress, even before your case makes it to trial.  For this reason, it’s important to be prepared and know what to expect before you end up in court so you won’t be surprised when the defense begins their testimony.

Doctors accused of medical negligence will come up with any number of excuses and defenses; in fact, they would be too numerous to name them all here.  However, there are certain ones that tend to come up more frequently and are therefore worth mentioning.

If you are potentially facing a trial in your medical malpractice claim, some of the defenses you might hear from the doctor and his or her attorneys could include:

It’s the patient’s fault.  A doctor being accused of causing a patient harm might opt to place the blame back on the victim to try and avoid responsibility.

The patient’s injury worsened because he or she didn’t mitigate properly.  This defense is used in an attempt to lessen the portion of damages that the doctor is being accused of.  Some doctors will try to prove that because a patient failed to seek additional or follow up treatment, it is their own fault that their injury worsened.

Informed consent protects me.  Some physicians try to claim that since a patient signed an informed consent form prior to treatment, they assume all responsibility for the treatment they are receiving and absolve the doctor of any blame should something go wrong.  This, of course, is false.

The patient knew the risks involved in having the procedure they underwent, therefore the doctor can’t be held accountable for anything that may have gone wrong.

The patient did not disclose pertinent information to the doctor that would have helped to avoid the injury or damages.

The patient was involved in some other intervening activity or treatment following the alleged malpractice thus breaking the chain of events that link the doctor’s negligence to the injury or harm.

The alleged negligence did not worsen or exacerbate the patient’s injuries, therefore there is no malpractice.

Certainly a creative defense attorney may conjure up a different defense than those listed here, but these are the most common excuses heard in response malpractice claims.  The good news is that, although there is never a guarantee, an experienced medical lawyer will be familiar with all of these defenses and more than capable of countering these claims and disproving them on your behalf to help you prove your case.

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Posted by Dave Austin

Florida Woman Agrees to Undisclosed Settlement in Hospital Infection Case

May 26, 2009

A settlement has been reached in the recent medical malpractice lawsuit filed on behalf of Claudia Mejia Edwards against Orlando Regional Healthcare Systems, Inc., after the mother of two lost all four limbs following an untreated hospital infection.
Shortly after delivering her second child, Ms. Edwards began complaining of a rash, fever, chills and other symptoms.  Rather than address and treat the symptoms, the hospital repeatedly attempted to discharge her, but she refused to leave.
It was eventually discovered that Edwards was suffering from gangrene and the flesh-eating bacteria known as Group A Streptococcal infection.  At that point, doctors were forced to amputate all four of her limbs in order to save her life.  Now the young mother of two is left confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life.
The lawsuit described one of the nurses treating Edwards as “wanton and reckless”, and alleged that had the proper steps and protocol been used, the infection could have been caught and her limbs would have been spared.  When Ms. Edward’s medical attorney began pushing for punitive damages, the hospital decided to settle.
Hospital infections can have some of the most disastrous results of any type of medical malpractice, mainly because they move quickly and can be difficult to control if not caught immediately.  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports more than two million hospital infections annually, resulting in nearly 90,000 deaths.  Hospital staff must be expertly trained to detect these infections immediately, and hasty in treating them to avoid being a part of these statistics.
Have you been a victim of a hospital infection and suffered injury and damages as a result?  If the answer is yes, you should discuss your situation with a medical lawyer experienced in this type of malpractice.

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Posted by Dave Austin

Oral Surgeon Operates on Wrong Side of Mouth

May 25, 2009

Officials at Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Rhode Island have admitted that an oral surgeon performing a surgery at the hospital began operating on the wrong side of a patient’s mouth before noticing the error.  The surgical error occurred earlier this month and is the fifth such incident reported by the hospital’s medical group, Lifespan, in the past two years.

According to reports, the patient in question is listed in good condition and is not expected to suffer any complications as a result of the medical mishap because, they claim, doctors were able to catch the mistake right away.

Wrong side surgery is a real concern for those who have to go under the knife for any sort of medical procedure, and although this particular situation appears to have ended well, this isn’t always the case.

If you or someone you know is a victim of surgical malpractice after a doctor operated on the wrong area, you may be able to be compensated for your injuries, pain and suffering.  Discuss the situation with a medical lawyer today to find out for sure.

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Posted by Dave Austin

IV Error Results in $1 Million Wrongful Death Settlement

May 23, 2009

The family of a Vermont woman who died as a result of an IV error has been awarded a $1 million judgment in her wrongful death lawsuit.

The victim, Katherine Coffey, had been admitted to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in 2005 to be treated for fluid in her lungs following a recent open heart surgery.  While undergoing treatment, the IV that was placed in Mrs. Coffey’s hand began leaking medication into the tissue surrounding her vein.  As a result of her reaction to the medication leak, she ultimately had to undergo surgery to have several of her fingers amputated.

Just weeks later, Coffey died of a resulting bacterial infection.

According to court documents, the Coffey family and their medical attorney cited multiple instances of medical malpractice.  They claim that medical staff administered a drug to control her blood sugar intravenously when it could have been in a less invasive way, used an incorrect type of IV line to insert into Coffey’s hand, failed to notice the medication leak, failed to treat the subsequent irritation to Coffey’s hand, and ultimately caused the deadly bacterial infection that claimed Mrs. Coffey’s life.
Part of the lawsuit requested that damages be awarded to Coffey’s husband, Francis Coffey, who has suffered from health complications and tremendous distress as a result of her death.  The jury listened and agreed, allocating $385,000 of the settlement to Mr. Coffey and the remainder to Katherine’s estate.

It is quite evident from this story that IV errors can have grave results.  If you have lost someone you love due to an IV error, or have been a victim yourself, you should consider your rights.  The first step is contacting a medical attorney to discuss your situation.

Source:   www.concordmonitor.com

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Posted by Dave Austin

Medical Malpractice – Intravenous Therapy Errors

May 21, 2009

Intravenous therapy, or IV for short, is the process of administering medication directly into a patient’s vein.  Given the delicate nature of this type of treatment, it is understandable that IV’s can be considered one of the riskiest ways to administer medication.  For that reason, IV errors can have devastating consequences including life altering injuries and even death.

What causes IV errors? Given that most IV’s are administered to patients during a stay in the hospital, the hectic and urgent nature of hospital and ER environments alone can be a recipe for disaster.  Couple this with the fact that many hospitals in the US are critically understaffed and the situation becomes even direr.  And sometimes IV errors are the result of simple mistakes on the part of a careless doctor or nurse.

Whatever the reason, IV errors can present themselves in any number of scenarios, such as:

  • Wrong drug administered
  • Improper timing of administration (too early or too late)
  • Defective IV pump or valve
  • Wrong dosage amount (too much or not enough)
  • Improper injection of drug
  • Dangerous combination of drugs administered (incompatible)

Any of these things can cause severe injury to a patient, including death.  Victims of IV errors have the right to seek justice by filing a medical malpractice lawsuit against the guilty parties.

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Posted by Dave Austin

Using Online Rating Sites to Avoid Medical Malpractice

May 20, 2009

By now most of us are aware of the growing number of online resources available for the public to rate the services they receive, from plumbers to painters, and every other service in between.   These sites help us to make more informed decisions when choosing someone to hire.  Recently, though, the world of online consumer rating has expanded into the medical field.  Medical rating sites can be a helpful tool in avoiding unprofessional and negligent physicians and hopefully prevent the chance of becoming a victim of medical malpractice.

There are a few things to keep in mind, though, if you choose to utilize these types of websites.

Beware of sites that allow comments from anonymous users.  Although everyone has a right to voice their opinion, keep in mind that sites that do not require registration prior to posting may contain slanderous and untruthful reports from people who may or may not even be a patient of the doctor they are rating.  Typically, sites that require a person to register are considered more reliable.  Should you still choose to use the reviews from anonymous posters, take their opinions with a grain of salt.

Look for sites that contain additional information about the physicians being rated.  For example, a site that includes disciplinary actions or citations that have been brought against a doctor is more valuable than one that only contains comments from patients.  The more legitimate information available, the better the chances of avoiding a possible malpractice claim.

Don’t be afraid to shop around.  There are several reliable websites available to you, and it is likely that more than one will have reviews on the same doctor.  You will get a more accurate picture if you read multiple reviews on more than one site than you will by only checking in one place.  Remember, the more educated you are, the better off you’ll be in the long run.

Don’t rely only solely on these sites when choosing a doctor.  There are plenty of other reliable sources of information available to you.  Ask friends, neighbors and associates what their experiences have been with a certain physician, or if they have any personal recommendations.  Additionally, your state Department of Health most likely has a website on which you can verify whether a doctor is properly licensed and if there have been any disciplinary actions against him.

Many doctors are not happy about the ever increasing presence of online rating websites, and some even try to force their patients to sign privacy agreements in an attempt to prevent them from posting negative comments about them on the internet.  The fact of the matter is, the internet is fast becoming one of the most important tools available to us, and this means resources such as medical rating sites are not going anywhere any time soon.  While they should not be the only thing we rely on when making an important medical decision, if used properly, they can be an excellent source of information and potentially assist us to avoid being a victim of medical malpractice.

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Posted by Dave Austin

Hospital Fined after Deadly Blood Transfusion Error

May 18, 2009

In a disturbing case of hospital malpractice, California’s Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center has been fined $25,000 by the state after a patient died from a blood transfusion error.

In October 2008, a patient was given a blood transfusion that was later found by a Department of Public Health investigation to be unnecessary.  In addition to the patient not needing the transfusion, the blood type was also incorrect.

It took 15 minutes for the hospital staff to realize the mistake and by then it was too late.  The patient died as a result of the error.

The medical center has released a statement that they “deeply regret the incident”.  The two nurses that were involved in the medical error have since resigned.

There is no word yet as to whether the family of the patient plans to file a wrongful death lawsuit.

Source:   www.nytimes.com

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Posted by Dave Austin

Medication Errors

May 16, 2009

Each year an astounding 1.3 million people are injured in the US due to medication errors.  According to The National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention,  a medication error is defined as “any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the health care professional, patient, or consumer…related to professional practice, health care products, procedures, and systems, including prescribing; order communication; product labeling, packaging, and nomenclature; compounding; dispensing; distribution; administration; education; monitoring; and use.”

A study performed by the FDA revealed that the most common cases of fatal medication errors involve:

  • Incorrect dosage of medication (41%)
  • Wrong drug prescribed (16%)
  • Improper route of medication administration (16%)

Additionally, it was documented that nearly half of those who are killed by medication errors are people aged 60 or older.  This may be due to the fact that many aging people take multiple prescriptions at a time to combat different ailments.
So what can you, as a patient, do to prevent being a victim of a medication error?  The answer is relatively simple: ask questions.  It’s important, however, that you know the right ones to ask.

What is the name of the drug?
What is it used for?
What is the proper dosage?
What are the dosage directions (ie. how often, by what method, etc.)?
Are there any storage requirements (ie. does it need to be refrigerated)?
Are there any other special instructions?

It is also critical that you discuss any and all other drugs you are currently taking with your doctor before a prescription is written for you.  This includes over the counter medications and dietary supplements.  This will aid in the prevention of possible dangerous drug interactions.

The bottom line is, you must be an advocate for your own healthcare, and you should never be afraid to ask questions or request further information before you begin any prescription medication treatments.  Remember, doctors and pharmacists are human too and can all too often make mistakes, as evidenced by the statistics referenced above.  The more you know, the less likely you are of becoming a victim of medication error.

Source:   www.medicinenet.com

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Posted by Dave Austin

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