Articles Posted in Medical Malpractice

Johnette Ellis never imagined she would lose her mother so soon. At 47-years-old, Jeanne Ellis was a loving mother who left behind a heartbroken family after she passed away from advanced-stage lung cancer. A jury has awarded the daughter of Jeanne Ellis $16.7 million after Johnette sued Dr. Peter Clarke at Brigham and Women’s Hospital alleging medical malpractice surrounding her mother’s death.

According to the Boston Globe, Jeanne Ellis came to the emergency room at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital in October of 2006 suffering from a persistent cough. Court documents state that Dr. Clarke ordered an x-ray done of her chest, which he then read and deemed as normal. Ms. Ellis was “diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection and prescribed antibiotics,” according to Boston.com Continue reading

A Chicago woman was awarded $14 million in a medical malpractice case against her doctor after she suffered a severe stroke two weeks after starting the birth control Yasmin.

Mariola Zapalski, 37, was prescribed the controversial contraceptive pill by Dr. Zbigniew Aniol in 2007 to control irregular bleeding. 13 days later, she had a stroke which caused profound brain damage, causing her to become partially paralyzed and wheelchair bound. Zapalski now requires around-the-clock care by her husband, who is now unable to work.

A four woman, eight man jury reached the verdict on April 18 after a two-week trial before Cook County Circuit Judge Edward Washington II. The jury determined that the defendant, Dr. Aniol’s choice to prescribe the medication to Zapalski ultimately led to her life-long debilitating injury. Zapalski’s attorney Bradley Cosgrove said he hopes the “verdict will send a message to other health care providers to be very careful in prescribing this medication that can be very dangerous.”

ABOUT YASMIN

Yasmin, which is manufactured by Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Inc., has been widely criticized for years by medical professionals because of its severe adverse side effects which among those side effects include a high risk of stroke in young women. Despite the controversy and known risks, Yasmin and YAZ continue to thrive in the pharmaceutical marketplace. In fact, in 2011 Bayer’s contraceptive medications generated $1.1 billion collectively making them the drug maker’s biggest selling drugs-Yasmin ranked as the No. 4 oral contraceptive in the United States.

In April 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ordered Bayer and other contraceptive makers to strengthen blood-clot warnings on their products. The FDA issued a safety review update last year for Yasmin and other birth control drugs containing drospirenone, a synthetic form of the naturally occurring female hormone progesterone. Medications with drospirenone have been found to triple the risk of blood clots.

As of March 2012, nearly 12,000 lawsuits have been brought against Bayer alleging that numerous contraceptive drugs, including Yasmin, enhance the risk of blood clots (deep vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism (PE)) and gallbladder problems. Ocella, which is the generic version of Yasmin, is also associated with serious side effects, some of which have been found to be fatal. Lawsuits also allege that the company failed to adequately warn patients and medical professionals of increased risk of serious side effects associated with the use of Yasmin and Yaz as compared to safer oral contraceptives.

All of the oral contraceptives containing ethinyl estradiol and the new “fourth generation” progestin drospirenone (DRSP) have been linked to:

• Blood Clots • Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)
• Pulmonary Embolism • Gallbladder Disease • Stroke • Cerebrovascular Accidents (CVA)
• Heart Attack • Myocardial Infarction • Death Continue reading

According to the National Trial Lawyers, payouts for medical malpractice cases actually increased in 2013 for the first time in ten years. The National Practitioner Data Bank found that companies paid out $168 million more than 2012, an increase of 4.7%. Keeping consistent with the trend of years passed, the vast majority of the payouts (96%) were from settlements, not judgments.

The state of California saw the largest increase in malpractice payouts last year, with a $51 million jump. In total, 38 states, or 78% of the country experienced a surge in payouts. New Jersey and Pennsylvania also saw an increase, with payouts surpassing the total in 2012 by $43 million and $41 million, respectively. Interestingly, New York had the highest decrease, where they fell $73 million, but still remains the state with the high malpractice settlements overall. Other states that paid out less in settlements include Massachusetts and Illinois.

The top three states for Medical Malpractice are of course, the great state of New York, sitting in the top spot, followed by Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Payouts per capita for the number one spot totaled a whopping $38.83. The population in New York State in 2013 was 19.5 million people. To put that into perspective, North Dakota had the lowest payouts per capita in the United States, with only $2.96. North Dakota had a total population of just 723,393.
Continue reading

A Worcester, MA hospital is being investigated after a dialysis patient contracted hepatitis C while undergoing treatment last year.

The hospital has issued a warning to other dialysis patients, urging them to be tested for the deadly virus.

The incident was confirmed late last year, and the majority of potentially-affected patients have already undergone testing.

“One incident like this is one too many. This situation was extremely unfortunate, and does not represent the high standards to which we hold our facilities and our staff. We took immediate extensive steps to ensure that our hemodialysis patients receive safe, high-quality care at all times,” the hospital said in a statement.

Hepatitis C causes inflammation of the liver and is spread most commonly through exposure to infected blood.

This is an extremely unfortunate and scary instance of medical malpractice on behalf of the hospital. Hospitals are supposed to ensure that ALL of its patients are safe and that incidences of preventable infection do not occur.
Continue reading

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is investigating the South Shore Hospital in Weymouth after two mothers died soon after childbirth. The state agency says the probe is “standard protocol” because childbirth-related fatalities don’t happen very often and these two deaths occurred within weeks of one another.

The women are Christie Lee Fazio, who died after delivering her son on December 14 and Colleen Celia, 32, whose death was on January 15. The Boston Herald says that Fazio, 30, died from cesarean section complications and Celia’s death was because she experienced an amniotic fluid embolism-this complication, which involves the fluid entering the woman’s bloodstream, has an 80% fatality rate. Prior to delivery, Celia was already considered a high-risk pregnancy because she had placenta previa.

South Shore Hospital deals with about 3,600 births annually. Hospital officials are adamant they did all they could for the moms. The state has designated it a level III program, which means the hospital offers advanced care to women with risky pregnancies as well as neonatal intensive care services.