Boston Injury Lawyer Blog

A mother is suing Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, three doctors, and two nurses for Massachusetts medical malpractice. Tessa Savicki says that the defendants violated her reproductive rights when they permanently sterilized her without her consent. Savicki, 35, has nine children.

Savicki says that after giving birth to Manuel Flores on December 19, 2006, a medical team performed a tubal ligation, which is a permanent procedure, instead of implanting an intrauterine device, which is a birth control procedure that can be reversed. She says that the permanent procedure left her mentally distressed and upset that she can no longer have more children.

Savicki says the defendants did not have a medical reason for performing the permanent sterilization. She also claims that never signed a written consent for the procedure, which is required for MassHealth patients.

A spokesperson for the hospital says that the document was signed. However, Savicki’s Massachusetts medical malpractice lawyer says that the hospital’s Health Information Management System department hasn’t been able to locate a signed consent form.

Failure to Obtain Informed Consent
Choosing to permanently prevent pregnancy is a serious and important decision for a woman to make. Doctor should notify a patient of the risks and ramifications associated with this medical procedure.

Medical providers must obtain a patient’s informed consent before performing an invasive procedure. A patient can sue for Boston medical malpractice if a medical procedure was performed without his/her permission or if a medical complication that he/she wasn't warned about occurs.

Ma mom: I was sterilized against my will, Cape Cod, January 3, 2010

Mother of Nine Claims She Was Sterilized Against Her Will, WCTV, January 4, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Medical Malpractice, Nolo

Tubal Ligation – Permanent Birth Control for Women, HealthNews, December 31, 2007

Five years after 3-year-old Jason Fox’s death, a Suffolk County jury has awarded his parents $15 million in Massachusetts medical malpractice damages: $5 million for wrongful death, $5 million for the boy’s pain and suffering, and $5 million for the loss of their child.

Jason, who was born with Tetralogy of Fallot, died in December 2004 after undergoing a procedure at Children’s Hospital in Boston a year and a half earlier to treat his birth defect. The serious defect, which was treatable, prevented his limbs and organs from receiving enough oxygen.

Jason underwent seven cardiac catheterizations and open heart surgery. During his second catheterization in April 2003, Jason had a seizure. The contrast dye, which allowed doctors to better see his anatomy, went into his brain.

Doctors who conducted an MRI to determine if he now had brain damage found a piece of metal in his brain that they think came from a medical instrument. They are not sure which procedure or what hospital the metal piece came from. The toddler’s heart rate dropped during the MRI and doctors had to revive him. Jason couldn’t speak or walk when he left the hospital. He sustained permanent brain injuries and eventually died.

Jason’s parents, Brian and Andrea Fox, say the doctors lied about what they did when treating their son and tried to cover up their actions. In Superior Court last week, the jury blamed Dr. James Lock and anesthesiologist Dr. James A. DiNardo for the boy’s wrongful death. They found at least two other doctors liable for providing Jason with negligent medical care.

Because of an agreement reached between the defendants and plaintiffs before the $15 Million Boston wrongful death verdict was announced, the actual medical malpractice award will be less.

Family wins $15 million malpractice judgment against Children's, MyFoxBoston, December 18, 2009

Jury ties doctors’ errors to boy’s death, Boston.com, December 19, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Children’s Hospital in Boston

Tetralogy of Fallot, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute

The father of John Edwards, a Harvard sophomore who committed suicide in 2007, is suing the university and a nurse and supervisor at the school’s Health Services for Massachusetts wrongful death and medical malpractice. John B. Edwards II filed his Boston medical malpractice lawsuit in Middlesex Superior Court.

The elder Edwards is accusing Dr. Georgia Ede of failing to properly supervise nurse practitioner Marianne Cannon, who prescribed three drugs to his son even though she doesn’t have physician training. Cannon prescribed the amphetamine Adderall, a drug for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, to the younger Edwards even though he was never diagnosed with this condition. She later prescribed Wellbutrin and Prozac, two strong antidepressants. Edwards was also taking Accutane, an acne drug that is linked to thoughts of suicide.

The US Food and Drug Administration has cautioned that patients who are prescribed Accutane, Wellbutrin, or Prozac should be closely observed in case they begin to have suicidal thoughts.

In his Massachusetts medical malpractice lawsuit, Edwards II says that the drug Adderall caused his son to experience anxiety and chest pains. He also contends that his son had told Cannon that when he took Prozac in the past he had experienced “out-of-control feelings.”

Harvard University maintains that Edwards was given the proper care.

Massachusetts Medical Malpractice
Medical professionals can be held liable for Massachusetts medical malpractice if mistakes, negligence, carelessness, or recklessness causes injury, health complications, or wrongful death. Medical providers, including doctors, nurse practitioners, anesthesiologists, surgeons, dentists, dermatologists, and gynecologists cannot afford to make mistakes when treating patients.

Prescribing the wrong medication, operating on the wrong body part, giving the patient too much anesthesia, and failing to diagnose that a patient is suffering from cancer or another serious illness are just some examples of the kinds of medical mistakes that can be grounds for a Boston medical malpractice lawsuit.

Family of late Harvard student sues school, Boston Herald, December 4, 2009

Kin sue Harvard over son’s suicide, Boston.com, December 4, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Harvard University Health Services

Medical Malpractice, Justia

A Massachusetts wrongful death settlement agreement has been reached between Boston Medical Center and the family of Catherine O’Donnell. The 86-year-old woman died on October 13, 2007 a week after she fell while being readied for transfer from an operating room table to her hospital bed.

O’Donnell sustained a massive head injury during the Boston fall accident. Last year, her family filed a Boston wrongful death lawsuit against the teaching hospital. In their Boston medical malpractice complaint, O’Donnell’s family accused operating room staffers of failing to provide the expected standard of care to O’Donnell and that this resulted in her fatal fall accident. The plaintiffs contend that the medical team was too busy and preoccupied when moving the elderly patient. They also take issue with how they were first told that the hip surgery was a success and were then notified about O’Donnell’s head injury.

Anesthesiologist resident Dr. Carlos Guzman, orthopedic resident Dr. John Pryor, and nurses Ingrid Rush and Harvinder Miller are among the defendants named in the Boston wrongful death lawsuit.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health cited procedural deficiencies as factors leading to O’Donnell’s fall accident. The hospital also determined that the operating staff was not paying full attention when attempting to move the elderly woman and that the removal of the safety belt from her person was not properly communicated between staffers.

Operating room staffers, just like nursing home workers, must exercise the right amount of caution to prevent fall accidents when assisting patients between beds, to their wheelchair, down the hallway, to the bathroom, into the shower, etcetera. Patients who are under anesthesia, unconscious, or not fully lucid for any other reason are usually unable to assist or support themselves during this move and are even more reliant on those around them to ensure a safe transfer or move. Yet the Bureau of Heath Care Safety and Quality says that every year, at least 50% of the 800 medical errors resulting in serious injuries that happen in Massachusetts hospitals involve fall accidents.

Fall accidents can result in serious injuries and may be especially catastrophic for elderly people, whose health may deteriorate as a result.

Family, hospital settle after mother’s fatal fall in operating room, Boston.com, October 14, 2009

Boston Wrongful Death Lawsuit Is Filed After 86-Year-Old Dorchester Woman Sustains Fatal Head Injury In Operating Room Table Fall, Boston Injury Lawyer, January 30, 2008

Related Web Resources:
Boston Medical Center

Hospital Falls Study Suggests Ways to Reduce Risk, Washington University in St. Louis

According to the Boston Globe, a recent study reveals that patients seeking nonurgent appointments with Boston medical specialists may have to wait anywhere from an average of 50 days to up to a year before they can actually see the doctor. While delays to see some of the area’s top medical professionals are not uncommon, doctors say a 2006 health insurance law that required hundreds of thousands of people to get insurance coverage has only added to the long wait.

Consulting and physician recruiting firm Merritt, Hawkins & Associates conducted the study, which surveyed 1,162 doctors’ office in 15 metropolitan areas. According to the findings, new patients wanting to schedule a non-emergency visit with an orthopedic surgeon, a dermatologist, a family practitioner, a cardiologist, or a gynecologist/obstetrician had to schedule their visit at least three weeks in advance of the actual visit or longer.

Reasons for nonurgent visits that required this type of wait time included gynecological visits, complete physicals, and appointments to check for skin cancer. The survey failed to report whether the appointment delays affected patients’ health or chances of recovery. Regardless, there are some important facts you need to know about what can happen when a patient’s diagnosis is delayed.

Delayed Diagnosis
While many patients may have health issues that are non-life threatening or conditions that are mild or minor enough that delayed diagnosis and treatment won’t affect their health or the outcome of their medical cases, immediate detection and diagnosis can make a huge difference for some people.

Delayed diagnosis can not only affect a sick person's prognosis, but it can alter the kinds of treatment required. If a person is at the beginning stages of a heart condition, any type of cancer, diabetes, or another kind of disease, then invasive, painful, and costly procedures (such as surgery, the removal of a breast or another body part, or intense chemotherapy) may be avoided if treatment is begun early enough.

Wrong diagnosis and delayed diagnosis are two common grounds for filing Boston medical malpractice lawsuits against medical specialists and other physicians that failed to diagnose or treat the patient in a timely manner.

Waits to see Hub doctors grow longer, Boston.com, May 15, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Merritt Hawkins and Associates

Wrong Diagnosis

Continue reading "Could Long Waits to Visit Boston Doctors Lead to Delayed Diagnosis? " »

In Massachusetts, the family of Charles F. Rondeau is considering filing a Massachusetts medical malpractice lawsuit for his wrongful death. Rondeau died on May 11, 2008.

UMass Memorial EMS paramedics arrived at his home after he complained that he wasn’t feeling well. The two paramedics walked him down three flights of stairs. He died three hours later from a massive heart attack.

Rondeau’s family filed a complaint asking why the 48-year-old, who had a history of heart disease and was having serious problems breathing and experiencing chest pains, was even made to walk down such steep steps. After conducting an investigation into the incident, Massachusett’s Department of Public Health made some disturbing discoveries.

Not only did Rondeau walk down the stairs but records were later falsified to make it appear as if he had been carried. The DPH’s Office of Emergency Medical Services blames UMass Memorial EMS paramedics Jonathan Hanson and Seth Peters for neglecting to give Rondeau the care he required in accordance with treatment protocols as outlined by the state of Massachusetts and for purposely falsifying the trip record and giving false information about the incident during interviews.

Peters told investigators that he wrote that Rondeau was carried down the stairs by accident out of force of habit and because he was in a rush to get the paperwork to the hospital. UMass Memorial EMS fired the two paramedics and the DPH’s Office of General Counsel is calling on the suspension of their EMT certifications.

Other deficiencies noted extended beyond the incident involving Rondeau, including failure to comply with state laws, failure to ensure the fulfillment of state regulations, failure to provide personnel with proper polices, and failure to keep up an effective quality assurance program. The ambulance service was also criticized for not ensuring the patient was immediately placed on advanced life support rather than waiting untll he was in the ambulance.

Examples of Paramedic Malpractice:

• Wrong diagnosis
• Delayed ambulance arrive
• Administering the wrong medication
• Not following proper procedures and protocols
• Negligent care

Paramedics accused of lying in Worcester death, Telegram.com, April 26, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Medical Malpractice Overview, Justia

UMass Memorial EMS

According to Massachusetts health officials, 338 medical mistakes occurred in hospitals throughout the state last year. Many of these errors could have been avoided. The findings are part of a study that documents “serious reportable events” in 2008.

Breakdown of the 338 serious reportable incidents occurring in Massachusetts hospitals last year:

• Fall accidents: 224
• Retained foreign objects: 32
• Wrong site: 24
• Serious bedsores: 12
• Medication mistakes: 12
• Sexual assault: 11
• Burn accidents: 6
• Incorrect procedure: 5
• Device or product malfunction: 3
• Attempted suicide or suicide: 3
• Air embolism: 2
• Restraint/bedrail incidents: 1
• Maternal death/disability: 1
• Hyperbilirubinemia in newborn: 1
• Wrong patient: 1

19 hospital fatalities were linked to these kinds of incidents. Nationally, about 90,000 fatalities a year can be attributed to hospital mistakes. The hospital that racked up the most incidents was St. Vincent Hospital, located in Worcester.

The five hospitals with the most events for 10,000 patient days:

• Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
• Fairview Hospital
• Martha’s Vineyard Hospital
• St Vincent Hospital, Worcester
• Nashoba Valley Medical Center, Ayer

Public Health regulators are quick to caution that consumers shouldn’t think of these results as a quality report card and to consider there may appear to be more serious reportable incidents at certain hospitals because some medical care centers may be more (or less) conscientious about documenting such events.

Some of the hospitals that have been noted for their quantity of serious reportable incidents have been making efforts to remedy the situation. The Department of Public Health began requiring Massachusetts hospitals to report any of 28 adverse medical events beginning January 1, 2008. For example, both St. Vincent Hospital and Norwood Hospital have implemented new measure to prevent fall accidents.

Hospital patient mishaps top 300, Boston.com, April 9, 2009

DPH report reveals hundreds of hospital errors, BostonHerald.com, April 8, 2008

Related Web Resources:
Massachusetts Department of Public Health

To read the full report, Mass.gov

Continue reading "Massachusetts Hospitals Rack Up Over 300 Medical Mistakes, Including Fall Accidents, Medication Errors, and Surgical Malpractice, In 2008" »

A woman has won a $6.4 million Massachusetts medical malpractice verdict in court. Kimberly Monson, a Blackstone resident, claims that her doctor neglected to treat her properly when she developed a potentially dangerous condition when she was pregnant and as a result, suffered brain damage. Her medical malpractice lawsuit named Dr. Elizabeth Konig and the obstetrician’s former medical practice, Dedham Medical Associates, as defendants.

Monson was 38-years-old and 35 weeks pregnant with her second child when she saw Konig. Monson was experiencing preeclampsia, which affects pregnant woman and can result in high blood pressure.

Preeclampsia is treatable but Monson contends that because Konig neglected to treat her condition correctly, it became so serious that Monson experienced brain bleed. Her baby, fortunately, was delivered safely.

Obstetricians and gynecologists are supposed to provide pregnant and new moms with a certain standard of care. When errors result in injury to the mom, fetus, or newborn baby, the injured parties may have grounds for filing a Massachusetts medical malpractice lawsuit. Errors may include:

• Screening or testing mistakes involving CAT-scans, pap smears, ultrasounds, etc.
• Failure to diagnose cervical cancer
• Failure to treat eclampsia
• Failure to diagnose gestational diabetes
• Abortion-related medical mistakes
• Mistakes when treating gestational hypertension

Preparing for the birth of your baby is an exciting and important time. If you or your baby were injured in Massachusetts because your obstetrician, gynecologist, or another medical professional made a mistake, there are legal remedies available to you that can allow you to receive medical malpractice compensation.

Woman wins $6.4M verdict in malpractice suit, Boston.com, March 20, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Preeclampsia Foundation

Prenatal Care, Medline Plus

According to the Emergency Care Research Institute, out of the 50 million medical operations that take place in the US, about 600 of them result in accidental surgical fires. The outcome can be catastrophic for the patient, who may sustain serious burn injuries.

According to the Bostonchannel.com, one woman sustained second- and third-degree burns on her face, eyes, nose, mouth, and back when a surgical fire broke out while she was undergoing a tracheotomy. Her injuries prevented her from eating, walking, or talking. Meantime, in Massachusetts, there has been one surgical fire since 2007.

Surgical Fires
Surgical fires occur when oxygen is flowing and a spark is created by a surgical tool that can cause anything flammable to catch fire. If the flammable item is close to the patient, it can cause the nasal canula or mask to ignite as if it were struck by a blowtorch. This may explain why these fires appear to have a greater chance of happening during neck and head procedures that require heat, air, and fuel to be in close proximity.

According to safety advocates, there are ways that operating room fires can be prevented. The patient or doctor may opt for less or no oxygen to be used during the procedure. Non-alcohol based skin preparations can also be used.

According to Surgicalfires.org, some of the fuels that are often encountered during surgical procedures include:

• GI tract gases
• Human hair
• Alcohol
• Degreasers
• Tinctures
• Gauze
• Adhesive tape
• Sponges
• Surgical gowns and masks
• Ointments
• Paraffin
• Anesthesia components
• Gloves
• Smoke evacuator hoses

The hospital and surgical team are required to make sure that a surgical patient is not exposed to any hazards before, during, or after a surgical procedure that can cause injury or death. Failure to exercise this duty of care can be grounds for a Massachusetts medical malpractice lawsuit.

Surgical Fires Rare, But Catastrophic, WCVBTV, March 16, 2009

Surgical Fire

Related Web Resources:
Fires during surgeries a bigger risk than thought, Boston.com, November 7 2007

Medical Malpractice Overview, Justia

Continue reading "Surgical Fires Can Be Grounds for Massachusetts Medical Malpractice" »

A $350,000 wrongful death settlement has been reached between the federal government and the family of a US marine reserve corporal who was refused care at the Veterans Administration hospital in Leeds, Massachusetts. Marine Reserve Corporal Jeffrey Lucey hanged himself in June 2004.

According to his family, the 23-year-old soldier was drinking heavily, severely depressed, and having trouble sleeping after he returned from Iraq in 2004. He was treated at the Massachusetts VA hospital’s psychiatric ward.

Two days after Lucey was released from the medical facility, he tried to kill himself by crashing the family car. It was at this point that the VA hospital refused to readmit him. A nurse reportedly made this decision without having a psychiatrist evaluate Lucey. According to his parents’ wrongful death lawsuit, the VA wouldn’t treat Lucey for post-traumatic stress disorder because he needed to become sober first.

In the last few years, the US government has made changes to how VA facilities treat returning veterans. 100 adjustment counsels have joined 207 of the VA’s Vet Centers. 100 new medical center employees now work as advocates for those who have suffered serious injuries. The VA Office of the Inspector General has also said that sustained sobriety will no longer be a requirement for US veterans to receive inpatient treatment for PTSD.

Lucey's father, Kevin, has accused the government of killing his son by sending him into war and then denying him the “basic health care” he needed upon his return. There have been several wrongful death lawsuits filed against the US government alleging negligence that led to veterans killing themselves.

By agreeing to settle, the Assistant US Attorney in charge of the case says the VA is not admitting it was responsible for Lucey’s suicide.

Family of Iraq vet gets settlement after his suicide, Stars and Stripes, January 16, 2009

VA Settles Suicide Lawsuit, Military.com, January 15, 2009

Related Web Resources:
US Department of Veterans Affairs

The Federal Tort Claims Act (PDF)

In Salem Superior Court, a jury awarded the family of Priscilla Jardine $2 million for her wrongful death. Jardine died on February 26, 2004 soon after giving birth to a baby girl during an emergency cesarean section. The jury issued its Massachusetts wrongful death verdict after finding that Jardine’s obstetrician, Dr. Debra Gail Knee, acted negligently when she recommended that the 32-year-old then pregnant mother take the drug labetalol.

As a result of taking the drug, Jardine’s blood pressure fell to dangerous levels and decreased her unborn baby’s fetal heart rate so that it became undetectable. Soon after delivering her daughter, Jardine went to cardiac arrest and died. Knee’s lawyer says that his client did not issue the directive for Jardine to take the medication and that another doctor who made the call has acknowledged that it was exclusively on his order.

According to the wrongful death lawsuit, hospital staffers told Jardine’s family that labetalol was “safe.” Information from the drug’s manufacturer, however, warns that patients suffering from congestive heart failure should not take the medication. A nurse at Caritas Family Hospital followed orders and administered labetalol to Jardine even though the pregnant woman was exhibiting symptoms that her heart was failing.

Medication Errors
It is responsibility of each physician to make sure that they are prescribing the proper drug to a patient and that the drug does not cause any adverse or dangerous side effects. Recommending the wrong drug to a patient can be very dangerous and can lead to serious injuries, health complications, and even death. It can also be grounds for Massachusetts medical malpractice lawsuit.

Labetalol
Labetalol is used on patients with high blood pressure. The drug relaxes the arterial muscles and helps lower one's blood pressure. According to Medicine.net, it is unclear whether the drug is safe for use during pregnancy.

Jury awards $2M in wrongful death suit to family of Methuen woman, Eagle Tribune, January 23, 2009

Jury Awards Family $2M After Childbirth Death, The Boston Channel, January 23, 2009

Related Web Resources:

Labetalol, Medicine.net

Medication Errors Injure 1.5 Million People and Cost Billions of Dollars Annually, The National Academies

Researchers from Harvard say that operating room deaths and medical complications are decreased by 1/3rd whenever nurses and doctors follow a 19-step checklist before, during, and after the surgical procedure. Their findings come from a international study involving eight hospitals. All of the hospitals found that medical complications went down from 11% to 7% with the checklist, while patient deaths went down from 1.5% to 0.8%.

According to Brigham and Women’s Hospital surgeon Dr. Atul Gawande, who is also the Harvard School of Public Health paper’s senior author, using a surgical checklist doesn’t cause unnecessary delays. Instead, it can decrease medical mistakes.

The study can be found on the New England Journal of Medicine’s Web site. A number of hospitals have already adopted the 19-step checklist because of the study’s findings. The checklist is influenced by the World Health Organization’s guidelines and takes just a couple of minutes to fill out. The list includes verbal steps for staff to follow before administering anesthesia to a patient, performing an incision, and moving the patient out of the operating room.

Steps include:

• Confirming that an anesthesia safety check was conducted
• Making sure surgical team members have met each other
• Talking about any concerns anyone might have about the procedure or the patient
• Confirming that no surgical tools were left inside the patient

The Massachusetts Hospital Association and the Institute of Healthcare Improvement in Cambridge are calling on Massachusetts hospitals to use this surgical checklist.

Surgical Malpractice
Surgical malpractice is grounds for a Massachusetts medical malpractice claim or wrongful death lawsuit. Surgeons, nurses, and other surgical staff in the operating room are supposed to make sure that no mistakes that can cause injury or death are made before, during, or after an operation.

Safety list cuts surgery deaths, Boston.com, January 15, 2009

Surgical Safety Checklist (PDF)

Related Web Resources:

New England Journal of Medicine

Massachusetts Hospital Association

Continue reading "Medical Complications and Operating Room Deaths are Reduced When Safety Checklist is Followed, Says Harvard Study" »

Dennis and Kimberly Quaid have reached a $750,000 medical malpractice settlement agreement with the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for the medication error that nearly killed their twin infants last year.

Zoe Grace and Thomas Boone Quaid were accidentally administered 1,000 times the recommended dose of heparin, a blood thinner. The medication mistake caused the newborn babies to bleed uncontrollably and placed their health in critical condition. Hospital officials have acknowledged that lapses in safety contributed to the twins’ heparin overdose.

Dennis and Kimberly have a drug litigation lawsuit pending against Baxter Healthcare Corp. The Quaids contend that the design and labeling of the drug caused the medication mistake. They are accusing Baxter Healthcare Corp. of products liability.

Heparin
Heparin is often used to prevent patients from experiencing blood clots. It can be used before a surgery, prior to dialysis, or for other medical reasons. Unfortunately, there have been many reported incidents of people sustaining injuries or dying while using heparin. In April 2008, the US Food and Drug Adminisrration discovered that over 100 patients had died since January 2007 while taking heparin. 62 of the deaths were a result of allergic reactions. A number of victims reportedly experienced an adverse reaction when they were given heparin contaminated with oversulfated chondroitin sulfate.

You are entitled to personal injury compensation if you were injured or your health grew worse because you were prescribed the wrong medication, administered the wrong dose, or the drug that you were given was dangerous for your health, defective, improperly packaged, or failed to warn of the adverse side effects that you experienced.

Dennis Quaid settles with Cedars-Sinai, Los Angeles Times, December 16, 2008

FDA Triples Tally Of Heparin-Linked Deaths, CBS News, April 8, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Baxter Healthcare Corporation

According to the Massachusetts Medical Society, many physicians in the state are so afraid that patients will sue them for medical malpractice that they order unnecessary procedures, hospital stays, tests, and referrals just to prevent lawsuits from happening. Their “defensive medicine” practices are reportedly causing healthcare costs in Massachusetts to increase by at least $1.4 billion each year.

The society also noted that this financial figure is likely an underestimation of the problem because only 900 doctors took party in the survey, accounting for just 46% of all Massachusetts doctors. Family doctors, general surgeons, obstetricians, and gynecologists were among the physicians who took part in the survey.

One doctor, former medical society president Alan Woodward, said the study results clearly show the need to change the system so that doctors can admit that they’ve made medical errors and injured patients can be fairly compensated in arbitration. Woodward noted that unnecessary tests, such as image testing, could expose patients to unnecessary injuries, such as allergic reactions to dyes, radiation exposure, biopsy complications, and infections.

38% of the physicians who took part in the survey noted that their fear of becoming a defendant in a medical malpractice lawsuit caused them to reduce the number of high-risk procedures they perform. 28% of the doctors surveyed said that fear of liability often affected the kind of care they provided patients. In the Journal of the American Medical Associaton, a 2005 survey found that 93% of US doctors practiced defensive medicine.

Medical Malpractice
In most cases, medical care is supposed to help a patient get better or prevent him or her from getting worse. If you believe that you or you loved one’s injuries or worsened condition are a result of errors made by a Massachusetts doctor, nurse, medical technician, or another medical provider, you need to consider your legal options. Massachusetts physicians owe all patients a duty of care. Failure to provide that care is negligence and can be grounds for a medical malpractice or wrongful death lawsuit.

Doctors' fear of lawsuits tied to added costs of $1.4b, Boston.com, November 18, 2008

MMS First-of-its-kind Survey of Physicians Shows Extent and Cost of the Practice of Defensive Medicine and its Multiple Effects of Health Care on the State, Massachusetts Medical Society, November 17, 2008

Wasted Medical Dollars, USA Today, April 23, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Massachusetts Medical Society

Defensive Medicine Report, Massachusetts Medical Society (PDF)

Continue reading "Massachusetts Doctors Say Fear of Medical Malpractice Lawsuits Compels Them to Practice Defensive Medicine" »

In Boston, Massachusetts, a Suffolk Superior Court jury awarded the family of Amy Altman $13.5 million for her wrongful death. Altman died in July 2003 after undergoing a cycle of experimental chemotherapy to treat her cancer.

The 40-year-old mother of two young girls, who sought treatment at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, was receiving chemotherapy for Ewing’s sarcoma once every two weeks instead of the standard treatment of once every three weeks. According to the family’s Massachusetts wrongful death lawyer, the protocol had never been tried on another adult prior to Altman. However, she agreed to the treatment based on the recommendations of the Dana-Farber oncologists. He pointed out that while Altman was aware of the side effects, she did not know how dangerous they could be for her.

Altman developed diarrhea two months into the treatment and, according to the family’s attorney, two Dana-Farber oncologists that consulted with her dismissed the diarrhea as a natural side effect. Soon after, Altman began having problems urinating and started experiencing severe pain in her abdomen.

She died soon after doctors at Brigham and Women’s Hospital began treating her for a flesh-eating bacterial infection that caused her diarrhea. According to autopsy results, Altman’s cancer was cured before she died.

The Boston jury ruled that her death could have been prevented if the doctors at the institute had investigated the actual cause of her chronic diarrhea. The defendants in the case included Dr. Jeffrey Morgan and Dr. Suzanne George, the Dana-Farber oncologists that examined Altman’s diarrhea. The Massachusetts jury awarded Altman’s family $9.4 million plus interest for her wrongful death.

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute officials say they disagree with the medical malpractice verdict.

Family of Dana-Farber cancer patient gets $13.5M, Boston Herald, November 6, 2008

Family Gets $13 Million for Woman's Experimental Cancer Drug Death, Fox, November 6, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

National Cancer Institute

Key evidence in the Massachusetts medical malpractice case filed by a woman who went blind after undergoing sinus surgery at Cape Code Hospital has disappeared. The medical malpractice trial is slated to begin next week.

The missing evidence consists of absorbent gauze, sutures, and a latex glove finger that were involved in the surgical malpractice incident. Plaintiff Jeannine Cullen underwent sinus surgery at the hospital in November 2001.

During the procedure, the packing material was inserted in Cullen's throat and experienced a loss of oxygen that eventually resulted in her loss of vision. The packing material, considered key evidence in the case, was being held in a safe in the hospital’s Pathology Department.

Last week, however, hospital officials discovered that the evidence was no longer n their possession. At a hearing in Barnstable Superior Court on Tuesday, a physician’s assistant in the hospital’s pathology lab expressed worries that a cleaning crew may have thrown out the surgical packing material last year.

Leaving Surgical Tools in Patients
The Center for Devices and Radiological Health and the Food and Drug Administration say that at least 1500 surgical patients a year leave the hospital with surgical tools that were accidentally inserted inside them during operations.

Surgical tools that have been found in patients following a procedure include clamps, tweezers, medical gauze, gloves, sponges, electrodes, and other medical equipment. Having these tools in the body can be dangerous to the patient, who could end up with serious personal injuries, including infection, organ damage, and death.

Hospital loses lawsuit evidence, Cape Cod Times, October 8, 2008

Surgical Tools Left in 1,500 Patients Per Year, ChiropracticSearch.org

Related Web Resources:

Cape Cod Hospital

Medical Malpractice Overview, Justia

The Joint Commission, a US hospital accreditation group, is trying to get healthcare facilities, including hospitals and nursing homes, to prevent angry outbursts by doctors. There is concern that swearing, throwing objects, and yelling can increase the chances that a medical mistake will occur.

Beginning January 1, 2009, the independent group is requiring health care facilities to adopt a “zero tolerance” policy toward this behavior. Codes of conduct to encourage staff members to report bad behavior will be included.

According to the Joint Commission’s Chief Patient Safety Officer Dr Peter Angood, many healthcare facilities are worried that if they upset the doctors, they will take their patients to other facilities.

A Boston Globe article published on Sunday discusses behavior referred to as “medical road rage.” In one incident at North Shore Medical Center in Salem, an orthopedic surgeon threw a pair of scissors that wouldn’t cut properly and almost hit a nurse. While many hospitals have tolerated medical road rage from leading surgeons who are significant moneymakers, the hospital disciplined the doctor and introduced a policy making it mandatory for doctors to treat coworkers with “civility and respect.”

At St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, one orthopedic surgeon yelled at colleagues for six years before an incident involving him throwing two 10-pound sandbags, one of which struck a nurse’s foot, lead to his suspension (after 9 complaints). The hospital now requires that a medical executive committee evaluate a case once a medical professional has been reported three times for “outburst” incidents.

Hospitals try to calm doctors' outbursts, Boston.com, August 10, 2008

Group tries to quell doctors' bad behavior, UPI.com,

Related Web Resource:

The Joint Commission

In Massachusetts, please contact our Boston medical malpractice law firm if you or someone you love was injured because of a health care provider’s negligent, careless, or reckless actions.

Continue reading "Medical Malpractice Accidents More Likely to Happen When Doctors Engage in “Medical Road Rage”" »

The Boston Globe is reporting that there have been 38 incidents since 2006 in which Massachusetts surgeons have performed surgeries on the wrong part of the body. Their review found that bungled spine surgeries account for more of these surgeries than any other kind of surgery performed, with four of the 11 botched spinal surgeries performed at New England Baptist over a 10-month period. Another hospital where a number of botched spinal surgeries occurred is the Lahey Clinic in Burlington.

Fortunately, no serious spinal disabilities or wrongful deaths have occurred from the surgeries. However, certain surgeries resulted in the wrong bulging disc being taken out or the wrong vertebrae fused together. During three incidents, the mistakes were identified during surgery, and the surgeons were able to correct the error before the procedure was over.

One reason why it is not difficult to operate on the wrong area of the spine is that all 33 vertebrae look very similar. While doctors will usually count the vertebrae and consult multiple x-rays to make sure they are performing the procedure on the right area, counting errors can occur.

Misinterpreting medical films is another cause of spinal surgery errors. Errors during spinal procedures can also happen when people have abnormal spine or osteoporotic bone, which makes it hard to distinguish between vertebrae.

Surgical Errors
Sometimes, surgical errors can cause a patient to experience greater pain or discomfort or other health complications can arise. An incident of surgical malpractice can lead to further treatments, surgeries, and other procedures that may not have been required otherwise.

Most surgery in wrong spot done on spine, Boston.com, July 30, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Massachusetts Department of Public Health

Spinal Surgery Complications

Continue reading "Bungled Spine Surgeries a Problem in Massachusetts" »

On Wednesday, the Massachusetts Supreme Court issued a ruling that doctors can be held liable for medical malpractice if they do anything to lessen a patient’s chance of survival. The ruling upholds the “loss of chance” doctrine that holds medical professionals liable even if a patient’s recovery odds were already less than 50%.

While the ruling should allow certain malpractice victims to increase their chances of obtaining compensation from the liable parties, the state’s highest court was careful to emphasize that their decision only applied to claims where medical negligence/malpractice had decreased the victim’s recovery chances.

The ruling comes from the appeal of a case in which a jury ruled that a doctor’s negligence had prevented a plaintiff from having a less than even chance of surviving gastric cancer. Kimiyoshi Matsuyama reportedly told his doctor several times, over the course of several years, that he was experiencing stomach pains. His physician, however, did not order diagnostic tests until 1999. Matsuyama died five months after he received his diagnosis.

In Massachusetts, a jury awarded Matsuyama’s estate $160,000 for pain and suffering. They awarded his family $328,125 for loss of chance.

The defendants appealed the case saying the Massachusetts wrongful death statute does not take into account loss of chance. The Massachusetts Supreme Court, however, agreed with the jury.

Doctors, nurses, and other health care providers are supposed to provide patients with a certain level of care. When failure to provide that level of care causes injury or death, the victims or their families are entitled to file a medical malpractice claim or lawsuit against all liable parties. Wrong diagnosis, failure to diagnose, and delayed diagnosis are three kinds of medical malpractice that can cause a patient to have to undergo more invasive procedures to recover, become more ill, or die.

Mass. high court rules in patient survival case, Boston.com, July 23, 2008

Mass. High Court: Doctors Liable for Patient's Lessened Chance of Survival, Insurance Journal, July 24, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Massachusetts Bar Association

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Massachusetts Wrongful Death Statute

In Massachusetts, the family of Winston Napier, a 55-year-old Clark University Professor that committed suicide inside his St. Vincent Hospital room last month, is wondering why he wasn’t under close watch even after he had threatened to commit suicide.

Worcester police are also wondering why they were never told of his death. The police and the Worcester district attorney’s office have subpoenaed the hospital for Napier’s medical records. According to Massachusetts law, police must be informed of any deaths that occur in any city, even if suicide is the cause of death.

On May 12, Clark University Police Chief Stephen Goulet contacted Worcester police and asked them to check on Napier. Police found Napier at his apartment. He was unable to answer the door and he appeared “confused.”

He was transported to St. Vincent Hospital and a CT scan was performed. Napier was diagnosed with a subdural hematoma and underwent emergency surgery. His family believes the injury occurred several weeks prior when he was struck by a pizza delivery door while riding a bicycle. The impact caused him to hit the door and fall onto the floor. The pizza delivery driver did not see Napier as he opened the door.

Following the emergency surgery, a nurse at St. Vincent Hospital said Napier’s behavior appeared off. He reportedly made a suicidal gesture with a knife on May 15 and was placed under 24-hour observation. A psychiatric evaluation was ordered.

The family claims that the evaluation never took place and Napier was taken off the watch. ON May 16, Napier hung himself from the shower. He was then reportedly resuscitated and placed on a breathing machine. He was declared dead on May 18.

The hospital says that they notified the medical examiner and the Department of Public Health. Police say they cannot properly investigate the death scene because Napier was removed from the scene and his room had been cleaned.

Medical care providers are supposed to ensure that hospital patients get the proper medical care and attention. Failure to provide that care can be grounds fora medical malpractice claim or lawsuit.

Clark professor's death probed, Telegram.com, June 2, 2008

Clark mourning the loss of popular scholar, Telegram.com June 1, 2008

Related Web Resource:

Winston Napier

Continue reading "Family of Clark University Professor Question Whether Massachusetts Hospital’s Alleged Negligence Led to Suicide" »

In Massachusetts, Boston-area psychiatrist Dr. Kayoko Kifuji is being sued for the wrongful death of 4-year-old Rebecca Riley. Rebecca died in 2006 following an overdose of psychiatric drugs.

The lawsuit, filed in Suffolk Superior Court, alleges that Rebecca was mostly prescribed drugs over the phone, using “slipshod diagnosis.”

Kifuji had diagnosed Rebecca with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder and bipolar disorder. She prescribed Seroquel, Clonidine, and Depakote.

The official cause of Rebecca’s death was prescription drug overdose, or "intoxication due to the combined effects" of clonidine, valproic acid (Depakote), dextromethorphan, and chlorpheniramin.” Her body was found in her Hull home on December 13, 2006.

Six weeks prior to Rebecca’s death, a nurse at her preschool in Weymouth told Kifuji that she believed the girl was taking too much medication. She described her as a “floppy doll” that was always tired. The doctor examined Rebecca but did not lower her prescription dosage.

A court-appointed guardian is representing Rebecca’s estate. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for Rebecca’s pain and suffering, her wrongful death, and the loss suffered by her 7-year-old sister and 13-year-old brothers, who are her estate’s beneficiaries. The two of them currently reside in foster homes.

Rebecca’s parents, Michael and Carolyn Riley, have been charged with her prescription overdose death. Her parents, awaiting their criminal trial in jail, have pled not guilty to the charges.

Last year, Kifuji agreed to stop seeing patients while the State Board of Registration in Medicine investigates the case. She told police that she was very concerned when she found out that Carolyn had increased Rebecca's nightly dose of clonidine.

Doctor is sued in death of girl, 4, Boston.com, April 4, 2008

Girl fed fatal overdoses, court told, Boston Globe, February 7, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Dr. Kayoko Kifuji, MD

Psychiatrist takes paid leave after death of girl, Boston.com, February 7, 2008

In Suffolk County Superior Court in Massachusetts, an unnamed plaintiff has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit suing pediatrician doctor Melvin D. Levine for sexual assault, battery, and abuse from 1980 to 1985. This is not the first time that Dr. Levine has been accused of sexual abuse by a former patient.

Several men have stepped forward claiming that the doctor sexually abused them at Children’s Hospital Boston when they were boys. At least four of the men are suing him in court. All of the men describe similar incidents of being abused by the doctor during medical examinations.

In this latest lawsuit, John Doe No. 5 says that Levine conducted unnecessary physical exams on him when he was a boy and engaged in acts of sexual assault, including masturbation and genital touching. He is also accusing Dr. Levine of making threats to assault him and trying to engage in other acts of sexual assault. The plaintiff says that he repressed the sex abuse memories for years until he took his own son to the doctor for the exam.

Between 1971 and 1985, Dr. Levine spent 14 years as the chief of ambulatory pediatrics at Children's Hospital Boston He is a bestselling author.

Dr. Levine, who has treated over 15,000 child patients, claims he is completely innocent of any allegation. Children’s Hospital says they never received any complaints about him while he was at the hospital.

Sex Abuse
A person who is sexually abused can file criminal charges against the perpetrator. He or she can also sue the abuser in civil court. The charges and lawsuits must be filed within the statute of limitations of the state where the abuse took place.

Sex abuse can result in personal injury to the victim, which can include physical, emotional, and mental injuries that can lead to alcoholism, depression, promiscuity, drug abuse, posttraumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, suicidal tendencies, sexual problems, intimacy issues, and broken relationships. It may be impossible to fully recover from the damages inflicted by sexual abuse, and medical and therapy costs can be very high.

There may, however, be civil remedies available to you for the harm that you or your child has suffered.

Lawsuit targets former pediatrician at Children's, Boston.com, March 31, 2008

Sex abuse claims filed against former Boston doctor, NECN.com, March 31, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Biography of Dr. Mel Levine, All Kinds of Minds

Children's Hospital Boston

Dr. Rapin Osathanondh, the Massachusetts gynecologist whose patient died last September at his Women’s Health Center in Hyannis, is being sued for wrongful death. The wrongful death plaintiff is Eileen Smith, the mother of 22-year-old Laura Hope Smith, who died during an abortion procedure. Smith is asking for punitive damages for the gross negligence that she says caused her daughter’s death.

The wrongful death lawsuit was filed on March 10 in Barnstable Superior Court. Smith’s defense team says that Osathanondh failed to properly monitor Laura’s vital signs while she was under anesthesia. Osathanondh and a receptionist were the only ones present during the abortion.

The receptionist called 911 after Smith stopped breathing. Cause of death was “cardiac pulmonary arrest during anesthesia during a voluntary termination of pregnancy.”

Osathanondh says that Laura’s death was an unfortunate outcome and that he was not negligent. He surrendered his medical license and resigned from practicing medicine last month--just as Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine was about to suspend his license following Laura's death. His primary medical practice was located in Brookline.

Last week, Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe said he would try to obtain a grand jury criminal indictment against the gynecologist.

Gynecological Malpractice
Injuries caused by gynecological or obstetric malpractice can be very physically and emotionally traumatic for the patient. Injury victims and families of patients that have died because of medical malpractice are entitled to personal injury or wrongful death recovery.

Common Kinds of Gynecological Malpractice:

• Abortion errors
• Inappropriate behavior during an examination
• Failure to diagnose
• Wrong diagnosis
• Hysterectomy mistakes
• Errors during testing
• Birthing errors

Doctor faces lawsuit, possible indictment, Cape Cod Times, March 21, 2008

Doc gives up license over Sandwich abortion death, Capecodtoday.com, February 21, 2008

Related Web Resource:

Cause and Effect Analysis of Closed Claims in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Green Journal, 2005

Medical regulators in Massachusetts suspended the medical license of Dr. Suzanne B. Rothchild, a Winchester Hospital obstetrician. The Board of Registration in Medicine called Rothchild “an immediate and serious threat to public health.”

Since the board’s decision, Winchester Hospital has suspended Rothchild’s medical privileges. The hospital has disciplined her for medical care that she provided on more than one occasion.

The board elected to suspend the 59-year-old obstetrician after examining nine cases alleging that she provided poor medical care. In 2007, her malpractice insurance company, ProMutual Group, refused to insure her new patients.

Since 1993, 12 medical malpractice lawsuits have been filed naming Rothchild as a defendant. Board of Registration records show that she has settled four medical malpractice lawsuits since 2005.

Rothchild settled a malpractice case in 2000 where she was accused of going to lunch at a critical point of her patient’s labor. The baby died soon after delivery of heart and respiratory failure. In another case, She settled a multimillion-dollar settlement with the family of a baby born with brain damage.

Rothschild’s lawyer calls the board’s suspension “unjustified.”

Obstetrician’s malpractice history stretches to Texas; Winchester Hospital slow on incident reporting, PatriotLedger.com, March 14, 2008

State suspends obstetrician's license, Boston.com, March 13, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Obstetrics and Medical Malpractice, WrongDiagnosis, March 14, 2008

High cost of malpractice insurance threatens supply of ob/gyns, especially in some urban areas, Med.umich.edu, June 1, 2005

Winchester Hospital

Continue reading "Massachusetts Suspends Obstetrician’s Medical License Following Several Medical Malpractice Cases" »

This week, attorneys involved in John Ritter wrongful death lawsuit began jury selection. The case finally goes to court more than four years following the September 2003 death of the beloved actor.

The late actor’s wife, actress Amy Yasbeck, and his children are suing cardiologist Joseph Lee and radiologist Matthew Lotysch, who both treated the actor. The trial will take place at Los Angeles County Superior Court in California.

Lotysch saw the actor in 2001. After conducting a body scan, the radiologist reported that there was nothing wrong with Ritter’s aorta but recommended that he see a cardiologist. Ritter did not pursue further treatment after Lotysch’s diagnosis. Ritter’s family says that Lotysch should have noticed that his aorta was enlarged.

In 2003, Ritter was on the set of his hit TV series, “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter,” when he started to experience nausea, chest pain, and vomiting. He was rushed to the ER of Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank.

An x-ray of his chest was ordered but never happened. Dr. Joseph Lee diagnosed the 54-year-old actor as having a heart attack and treated him for one. According to the lawsuit filed by Ritter’s family, the treatment he received for the heart attack was the exact opposite kind of care that he needed. The family contends that he would have survived longer if he had been correctly diagnosed and received the proper treatment.

The family is suing both doctors for failing to properly diagnose and treat the actor, as well as for negligence.

The amount that the family is suing for--$67 million—is partially based on the amount of money the actor could have made had he lived.

In other wrongful death claims related to Ritter’s death, his family has received some $14 million in settlements from several medical entities. Providence St. Joseph Medical Center settled their wrongful death case with the Ritter family for $9.4 million.

John Ritter's Medical Treatment Disputed, AP.com, February 5, 2008

John Ritter’s widow talks about wrongful death suit, MSNBC.com, February 4, 2008

Related Web Resources:

John Ritter wrongful death lawsuit settled, MSNBC.com, March 15, 2006

Actor John Ritter dead at 54, CNN.com, September 12, 2003

A jury in Massachusetts awarded Fitchburg resident Audrey Serrano $2.5 million in her medical malpractice lawsuit against Dr. Kwan Lai, the doctor who misdiagnosed her with HIV.

Serrano was treated for HIV for nearly nine years before she found out that she never had the virus. Her treatments included powerful drugs that caused her to experience depression and a number of health problems, including chronic fatigue, depression, and inflammation of the intestine. Dr. Kwan Lai reportedly did not order definitive tests to confirm that Serrano definitely had HIV.

If you were injured or got sick because a doctor or any other medical provider misdiagnosed your illness, you should speak with a Massachusetts medical malpractice lawyer who can help you determine whether you have reason to file a medical malpractice claim or lawsuit.

Last week, Lai testified that Serrano was the one who persuaded her she had the virus that caused AIDS and that the 45-year old woman had an abnormal number of cells for battling infections. Lai treated Serrano at the HIV clinic of the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester. The medical center was not named as a defendant in the personal injury lawsuit.

Serrano filed the lawsuit four years ago after she began to question whether the diagnosis was correct. She took a test at another hospital.

Damages could exceed$3.7 million with prejudgment interest.

CNN.com offers five reasons to suspect that you have been the victim of medical misdiagnosis:

• Your symptoms are not the same as what your diagnosis says they should be.
• Your diagnosis is the result of just one lab test.
• Treatments are not improving your health.
• You did not receive a test that is usually administered to confirm your diagnosis.
• You have been diagnosed with a physical ailment that is rare.

Jury awards $2.5 million to Mass. woman misdiagnosed with HIV, Boston.com, December 12, 2007

Has your illness been misdiagnosed?, CNN.com

Related Web Resources:

Five commonly misdiagnosed diseases, CNN.com, October 3, 2007

Wrong Diagnosis.com

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued a ruling earlier this week that says a doctor can be sued for personal injury if his patient caused a deadly car accident.

The case before the SJC involved a mother who wants to sue a doctor because he allegedly did not warn his patient that taking his medication could cause him to become a dangerous driver. The doctor, Dr. Roland Floria, practices medicine in Brockton, Massachusetts.

On March 22, 2002, Floria's patient, David Sacca, 75, passed out while driving his car. His vehicle swerved off the road and struck Kevin Coombes, 10, who was standing on the sidewalk. Coombes died of his injuries from the accident. Dr. Floria had prescribed oxycodone, prednisone, Zaroxolyn, Paxil, potassium, furosemide, oxazepam, and Flomax to Sacca. Side effects of these drugs can include fainting, drowsiness, and dizziness.

In the court’s lead opinion, Justice Roderick L. Ireland compared Dr. Floria’s failure to warn Sacca about his medications’ side effects to a bartender giving a drunken customer a drink. He said that the physician’s duty of care includes "all those foreseeably put at risk by his failure to warn about the effects of the treatment he provides to his patients."

This is the first time that Massachusetts’s SJC has issued such a ruling. Two earlier state Superior Court rulings had held doctors liable when their patients struck a pedestrian and biker. The ruling by the SJC, however, could make it easier for similar lawsuits holding doctors accountable for their patients’ actions to follow.

Dr. Dale Magee, the head of the Massachusetts Medical Society that represents the majority of Massachusetts’s doctors says that the ruling “may do more harm than good.” Magee noted that doctors should warn patients of possible medicinal side effects. He expressed concern, however, that informing a patient of every possible scenario could stop them from taking their medication.

The Supreme Judicial Court’s ruling paves the way for a wrongful death trial to determine whether Floria is liable for the boy’s death. Prior to this ruling, a doctor’s liability regarding failure to warn ended with the patient. Now, a physician’s liability could extend to “foreseeable” third parties and nonpatients.

If you or someone you love was injured in a car accident, truck crash, bicycle collision, or pedestrian accident anywhere in Massachusetts, you should contact a personal injury lawyer immediately.

Mass. Supreme Court Expands Doctors' Liability to Nonpatients, Insurance Journal, December 11, 2007

SJC ruling adds to doctor liability, Boston.com, December 11, 2007

Related Web Resources:

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Continue reading "Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Rules that Doctor Can Be Liable if Patient Causes Motor Vehicle Accidents" »

The newborn twins of movie star Dennis Quaid are recovering from a massive overdose of a blood-thinning drug that they received while at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.

The two-week old twins, Zoe Grace and Thomas Boone, and another child were accidentally given 10,000 units of Heparin, instead of the 10 units that babies are supposed to receive.

TMZ.com reports that the babies started “bleeding out” after they were given the overdose.

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is one of the top hospitals in the United States. On Wednesday, the hospital apologized for the mistake, which it called a “preventable error.”

Heparin is an anticoagulant that is used to prevent blood clots and clean IV tubes. According to Dr. Michael Langberg, Cedars-Sinai chief medical officer, the three babies are recovering and were treated with a drug that reverses Heparin’s effects.

A patient who is injured because he or she was given too much or not enough medication could have grounds to file a medical malpractice case against the doctor and/or hospital that made the medical error.

Last year, three premature babies died at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis when they were given 1000 times the strength of Heparin than they should have received. The mistake happened because a pharmacy technician had put vials with the stronger dose of Heparin in the wrong cabinet and no one noticed the mistake.

The label for the correct dose should have said “Hep-lock” instead of “Heparin,” and the medication was dark blue in color, instead of baby blue. Three other babies, who were also given too much Heparin, survived.

Approximately 1.5 million people a year are injured because of medication errors that occur in hospitals, nursing homes, and doctors’ offices. A 1999 study showed that some 7,000 deaths occur because of drug errors. Many errors are preventable.

Poor handwriting on prescriptions, pharmacy error, mix-ups at hospitals, and prescribing the wrong drug because its name is similar to the correct drug are some common causes of drug errors.

Medical malpractice cases involving drug errors are complex cases to prove. This is why you need an experienced medical malpractice attorney who is experienced in handling cases involving medical errors and drug errors.

Dennis Quaid twins recovering from medical overdose, Reuters, November 22, 2007

Drug errors injure more than 1.5 million a year, MSNBC.com/AP, July 20, 2006

How drug mix-up that killed 3 babies happened, MSNBC.com, September 22, 2006

Related Web Resources:

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Heparin: Overdose and Contraindications, Rxlist.com

Families upset over new Heparin overdose cases, MSNBC.com, November 22, 2007

Continue reading "Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Gives Actor Dennis Quaid’s Twins Massive Heparin Overdose" »

A preliminary autopsy by the Los Angeles County coroner reveals that rapper Kanye West’s mother may have died because of cosmetic surgery or anesthesia related to the surgery.

Donda West, 58, received cosmetic surgery from Dr. Jan Adams, a well-known Brentwood, California plastic surgeon who has been seen on TV shows, including “Extra” and “Oprah.” He hosts his own show about plastic surgery on the Discovery Health Channel. His show was pulled after West’s death.

After her surgery, West was sent home to recover. Paramedics rushed her to a Marina del Rey hospital the following day. She died at the hospital.

Dr. Jan Adams has settled at least two major medical malpractice lawsuits in the past. He also has multiple criminal convictions for alcohol-related offenses. Earlier this year, the Medical Board of California and the state attorney general’s office served Dr. Adams a complaint seeking to suspend or revoke his medical license.

The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery says that nearly 11.5 million cosmetic nonsurgical and surgical procedures took place in the U.S. last year. Botox injections and liposuction being are two of the most popular cosmetic procedures.

Cosmetic Surgery Malpractice
Every kind of surgery carries a certain risk—especially if errors or complications occur during the procedure. In plastic surgery, errors by a plastic surgeon can lead to injuries, including scarring, disfigurement, tissue malfunction, and death.

Common mistakes that can lead to grounds for a plastic surgery malpractice claim or lawsuit include:

• Surgeon inexperience or carelessness
• Poor surgical training
• Anesthesia errors
• Disfigurement
• Prolonged sedation
• Under correction
• Over correction
• Nerve damage
• Scarring
• Post-operative mismanagement
• Wrong implant size
• Assymetry
• Excessive facelift
• Lidocaine overdose
• Burning from chemical peels
• Allergy to medication
• Sex abuse by surgeon, nurse, or another medical worker

Surgery or anesthesia cited in death of rapper's mother, Los Angeles Times, November 14

Donda West's surgeon faced malpractice suits, records show, CNN.com, November 13, 2007

Related Web Resources:

Read the Medical Board of California's Complaint Against Dr. Adams (PDF)

Dr. Jan Adams

Cosmetic Surgery: What to Know Beforehand, MayoClinic.com

Continue reading "Coronor Says Rapper Kanye West’s Mother May Have Died From Cosmetic Surgery or Anesthesia" »

Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez, a doctor under investigation for his possible role in 10 fatalities at the VA hospital in Illinois was also accused of medical malpractice when he practice medicine in Massachusetts. His license was revoked in this state following the death of two of his patients. His medical license has now been indefinitely been suspended in Illinois.

In Massachusetts, one patient, Jeronimo Coronado, 58, died of complications from a surgery that Dr. Veizaga-Mendez had performed on him in 2000. The operation was to treat the patient’s heartburn. He died from respiratory failure, infection, and sepsis after the surgery. Massachusetts’ medical board cited surgical error by Veizaga-Mendez. Coronado’s family filed a lawsuit against Veizaga Mendez and settled out of court.

The other patient in Massachusetts was 74-year-old male, who died after undergoing surgery to remove a tumor in his lung in 2002. Dr. Veizaga-Mendez was accused of failing to diagnose that the man was experiencing postoperative bleeding. The patient was not taken to the operating room until the next day. He passed away two days later.

Surgeons, like all other medical providers, are required to provide patients with a certain standard of care. When a surgeon makes a mistake on the job and causes a patient to become more ill or die, the patient or the loved ones of the deceased can sue the surgeon for surgical malpractice or wrongful death.

Examples of Surgical Malpractice:

• Performing the wrong surgery
• Performing the right surgery on the wrong body part
• Delay in performing a necessary surgery
• Failure to properly monitor patient after surgery
• Accidentally leaving forceps, a scissor, a towel, or another surgical tool or item in the surgical patient’s body
• Birthing errors
• Anesthesia errors

Common reasons for surgical mistakes include exhaustion, inexperience, negligence, and operating under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Surgical errors are serious mistakes that can cause a patient great pain and suffering. Infections, brain injuries, organ damage, and death are some of the catastrophic consequences that can occur. A person may have to undergo more surgeries and take longer to recover because of a surgeon’s mistake.

Surgeon's work questioned in Massachusetts, WQAD, October 12, 2007

Former VA surgeon loses Illinois medical license, Boston.com, October 17, 2007

Related Web Resources:

Surgical Malpractice, Wrong Diagnosis

Medical Malpractice in Massachusetts, Wrong Diagnosis

Continue reading "VA Hospital Surgeon Linked to Medical Malpractice Deaths Also Lost Medical License in Massachusetts" »

A Suffolk County, Massachusetts jury has awarded the family of 10-year-old Jose Bejarano Jr. $26 .5 Million because birthing errors caused him to have cerebral palsy.

His family say that they will use the money to give them the resources they need to care for their son at home. Jose, Jr. eats through a feeding tube, is wheelchair-bound, only communicates through his eyes, and will never be able to take care of himself.

Jose, Jr. will never speak or walk and requires 24-hour-care because of his birth injuries. The damages are being sought from two Brigham and Women’s Hospital physicians, who are accused of not recognizing that Jose, Jr. was in fetal distress during his March 14, 1997 delivery and neglecting to perform a Caesarian operation in time.

Cerebral palsy is caused when there is permanent brain injury to a fetus before, during, or after delivery. A person with cerebral palsy will have a difficult time controlling his or her movement and muscles. Cerebral palsy can lead to spasms, seizures, learning disabilities, visual problems, and hearing problems.

Unfortunately, some cases of cerebral palsy could have been prevented, had errors not occur during delivery of the baby. Common medical malpractice errors during delivery that can cause cerebral palsy:

• Leaving a child in the birth canal for too long a time
• Excessive or improper use of vacuum extraction
• Failure to notice that the baby’s umbilical cord is wrapped around the neck
• Failure to properly monitor for fetal distress
• Failure to plan for or perform a caesarean section surgery in time
• Incorrect use of forceps
• Failure to properly treat meningitis
• Failure to treat jaundice

If a doctor, nurse, obstetrician, or another medical provider made a mistake that caused your child to have cerebral palsy, you should contact an experienced Massachusetts medical malpractice lawyer immediately.

You and your family deserve compensation for the injuries that your child sustained. Your compensation may allow you to provide your child with proper medical care and resources he or she will need to live with cerebral palsy.

Kin get $26M in malpractice lawsuit over botched birth, Boston Herald, October 13, 2007

Related Web Resources:

Cerebral Palsy Information

Brigham and Women's Hospital

Notre Dame Football Coach Charlie Weis told a jury in Suffolk Superior Court on Wednesday that it is difficult for him to stand on his feet all day and he is unable to walk properly. He is suing the surgeons who performed his gastric bypass procedure for medical malpractice.

Weis, the former New England Patriots offensive coordinator, claims that Doctors Charles Ferguson and Richard Hodin acted negligently when they let him bleed internally for 30 hours following his surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in 2002.

This is the second trial related to Weis’s medical malpractice lawsuit. The first one ended in a mistrial last February after a juror collapsed and the two doctor defendants rushed forward to assist him.

Hodin, a Harvard Medical School professor, and Ferguson, the director of Massachusetts General’s surgical residency program, dispute Weis’s claim. Both men say that they provided the college football coach with excellent medical care.

Weis’s medical malpractice attorney says that the doctors were negligent for allowing Weis to bleed internally before conducting another operation to fix the complication. The football coach spent two weeks in a coma and almost died.

The defendants claim that internal bleeding is not an unusual complication related to gastric bypass surgery. They thought the bleeding would stop without their assistance, which is what they claim usually occurs in similar cases. The doctors say that they were cautious about performing the second surgery because they were worried that Weis would end up having a pulmonary embolism.

The plaintiff’s side says the delay in operation has left Weis with permanent numbness and pain in his feet. Rehabilitation from surgery has reportedly been painful. The pain he experiences sometimes forces him to use a motorized cart.

Medical malpractice law allows a person injured by a medical provider to file a lawsuit against the liable party.

Common causes for medical malpractice include:

• Wrong diagnosis
• Failure to diagnose
• Surgical errors
• Birthing errors
• Prescription errors
• Lack of informed consent
• Sub-standard care

Doctors, nurses, surgeons, and primary care physicians are just some of those in the medical profession that can be held liable for medical malpractice.

Medical malpractice cases are very complicated, which is why you should hire a medical malpractice law firm that knows how to prove that the injuries were a result of negligence on the part of a medical practitioner.

Weis Testifies in Medical Malpractice Case, My Fox Boston, July 18, 2007

Weis's second medical malpractice lawsuit opens, Boston.com, July 17, 2007

Related Web Resource:

Medical Malpractice

Officials in Massachusetts have ordered Dr. Joseph Z. Zolot, a Boston area doctor, to stop practicing medicine. They claim that he provided poor treatment to at least 30 patients. Three of his patients died within days of their appointments with Dr. Zolot. During these appointments, he prescribed drugs, including OxCotin and methadone. Five other patients also died, most of them from drug overdoses.

Dr. Zolot specializes in nonsurgical orthopedics. He has been licensed to practice medicine in Massachusetts since 1993. The state’s Board of Registration in Medicine has ordered the immediate suspension of his license. Federal and state law enforcement officials continue to investigate Dr. Zolot. They seized patient records during a search warrant raid of his office last May.

In a medical board document, officials are accusing Zolot of providing substandard care, medical malpractice, and medical misconduct. He is accused of prescribing powerful painkillers to patients who, based on their diagnosis, did not need them. He is also accused of not being fully informed about his patient’s medical history, giving too many joint injections, and not taking action against patients when he found out that they did not follow their proper prescription dosage.

Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice takes place when doctor error, carelessness, or negligence results in a patient becoming injured or dying. Grounds for medical malpractice are numerous, but can include misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose, prescription errors, physician error, lack of proper care, and lack of informed consent.

In Massachusetts, the statute of limitations for filing a medical malpractice action is three years from the time that the medical malpractice incident occurred. Due to the complexities involved in a medical malpractice case, it is advisable that you speak with an experienced medical malpractice attorney.

Needham doctor's license is suspended, Boston Globe, June 21, 2007

Related Web Resources:

OxyContin, U.S. FDA

Dr. Joseph Zolot, MD

Medication Errors Harming Millions, Report Says, Washington Post, July 21, 2006