Lexington KY Medical Malpractice Attorney Blog | Kentucky Birth Injury Lawyer

Man gets $59,820 after incorrect terminal cancer diagnosis

On behalf of Stephen M. O'Brien III, PLLC posted in Doctor Errors on Thursday, May 16, 2013.

A judge in Helena, Montana, has awarded a man $59,820 after he was incorrectly diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. In this case of medical negligence, the man was told by a doctor at the Fort Harrison VA Medical Center that he only had months to live. As a result of this devastating news, the man sold his truck, quit his job and even thought about taking his own life.

The man's story began in 2009 when he had a stent put in because he had suffered from chest pain. Some weeks after, he started experiencing headaches as well as problems with his speech, vision and memory. The man saw an internist, who in turn sent him to see an ophthalmologist. A CT scan was performed and it did show abnormalities in the brain. The neuroradiologist who read the CT scan told the internist the man's symptoms could be from a stroke, a brain tumor or something else. He advised the internist to have more testing done in order to ensure the proper diagnosis was made.

Woman sues after husband dies of liver cancer

On behalf of Stephen M. O'Brien III, PLLC posted in Failure To Diagnose on Tuesday, May 7, 2013.

A woman has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., and Southern California Permanente Medical Group. The lawsuit alleges that it was the defendants' failure to diagnose her husband's liver cancer before it reached the terminal stage that lead to his death. In addition, the lawsuit alleges the defendants' did not treat the man according to the applicable standard of care.

According to the complaint, the man was diagnosed in 2003 with cirrhosis and hepatitis, but not with liver cancer, nor was he monitored for the development of liver cancer. The cancer was not diagnosed until 2011 and by then, the cancer was terminal, although he underwent intensive medical treatment for the disease. He died in 2012 and was only treated by the defendants' in the lawsuit. The woman alleges in the lawsuit that she has been left with medical bills that are quite significant because her husband was not able to work due to his illnesses.

Surgery on wrong side of woman's brain leads to lawsuit

On behalf of Stephen M. O'Brien III, PLLC posted in Doctor Errors on Thursday, May 2, 2013.

A lawsuit has been filed against SSM Health Care--St. Louis and a neurosurgeon for medical malpractice by the family of a 53--year--old woman. The suit alleges that a neurosurgeon employed by the hospital operated on the wrong side of the woman's brain, causing her to lose her ability to speak intelligibly.

The woman was to undergo a left--sided craniotomy bypass, but according to the lawsuit, the neurosurgeon performed the surgery on the right side of her brain. The initial surgery was to prevent strokes. When the error was identified, the woman had to undergo a second brain surgery six days later.

Medical negligence suit filed over Kentucky teen's death

On behalf of Stephen M. O'Brien III, PLLC posted in Doctor Errors on Monday, April 22, 2013.

A civil suit has been filed against a doctor, a nurse and a clinic in Stanford, Kentucky, over the death of a teenager in March 2012. The suit was filed by the sister and parents of a 16-year-old girl who died of a pulmonary embolism after taking birth control pills.

The medical negligence complaint alleges the teenager went to the clinic to get a prescription for the birth control pills in January 2012. She had a history of blood clots and chest pain, but the doctor gave the girl the prescription anyway. In March 2012, the teen went to the clinic again because she felt the pills were causing her complications. According to the lawsuit, the doctor did not take her off the prescribed birth control pills. The complaint alleges that this was negligent on the doctor's part and the pulmonary embolism was a direct result of this inaction.

Study finds hospitals make more money from medical mistakes and errors

On behalf of Stephen M. O'Brien III, PLLC posted in Hospital Negligence on Friday, April 19, 2013.

Incentives are a strange thing. Sometimes, there are unintended consequences, ranging from schools teaching to tests, to corporate executives focusing on short-term goals to maximize their bonuses. Hospitals are reimbursed from insurance companies for providing care for patients, even when the patients are in the hospital because of medical malpractice caused by the hospital. Ironically, hospital negligence and medical malpractice can become a profit center for a hospital and improving their treatment of patients can be detrimental to their bottom line.

A study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association found that the current system actually rewards hospitals for poor care and that the current payment system leaves little incentive for these hospitals to improve, because the additional treatment necessary after an incident of medical malpractice is much more profitable than the initial treatment.

Jury hits insurer with $500 million punitive damage verdict for hepatitis infection

On behalf of Stephen M. O'Brien III, PLLC on Friday, April 12, 2013.

Sometimes the lowest bid can prove very expensive. A jury in Nevada levied $500 in punitive damages against the health insurance company, UnitedHealth Group. The punitive damages stemmed from an incident where a doctor's clinic infected at least nine patients with hepatitis C during endoscopy procedures in 2007. The jury had previously awarded $24 million in compensatory damages in the case.

This medical malpractice case is unusual in that the insurer, UnitedHealth Group, was sued along with the doctor. The injured patients argued that United Healthcare accepted a low-bid contract from the doctor responsible for the infections, even though they had been warned that the doctor "sped through" procedures and placed his patients at risk for hepatitis, AIDS, and other blood-borne diseases. The doctor wanted to make as much money as possible by "processing" a many patients as possible.

Dental surgery case involving death of 17-year-old settled

On behalf of Stephen M. O'Brien III, PLLC on Saturday, April 6, 2013.

Few fears are greater than the dread of burying your child. You expect they will long outlive you, and the prospect of choosing a burial plot and casket for your child is virtually unimaginable for most parents. Sadly, parents of a 17-year-old girl from Maryland had that experience in 2011.

Still a junior in high school, the girl suffered a severe brain injury during the operation to remove her wisdom teeth. She went into a coma and died within ten days. Her autopsy indicated she suffered a loss of oxygen to her brain during the surgery. Her parents filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the oral surgeon and anesthesiologist involved with the surgery.

Disabled man receives $12 million settlement for burn injuries

On behalf of Stephen M. O'Brien III, PLLC on Wednesday, March 27, 2013.

We often hear of medical malpractice or nursing home negligence cases settling, and often they are characterized as if most of these cases are frivolous lawsuits and are settled by the nursing home or hospital to make them go away and save legal fees. Then there are cases like this one, where they settle to prevent the facts from going to a jury. Because they know the conduct was so horrific that a jury will be happy to return a verdict that includes millions of dollars in punitive damages.

This situation is a textbook example of nursing home negligence. A severely disabled man, who received around the clock care because of his disabilities, was taken to a bathtub. The worker who was in charge of his care had not been properly trained and filled the bathtub with scalding hot water. He then placed the disabled man in the tub, but because of his autism, he cannot speak or scream. Instead, he struggled to get out of the scalding water. The attendant failed to understand what was wrong and assumed he was having a seizure and held him down in the scalding water.

Car accident leaves driver of vehicle a quadriplegic

On behalf of Stephen M. O'Brien III, PLLC posted in Motor Vehicle Accidents on Friday, March 22, 2013.

We read a lot about car accidents and even though more than 30,000 people are killed every year in motor vehicle accidents, most people, we suspect never think it will happen to them. Occasional high-profile accidents, like the one that killed Princess Diana in Paris are so uncommon that they allow us to be lulled into complacency that it could never happen to us.

Out of Michigan comes the story of the Executive of Oakland County, L. Brooks Patterson, who was severely injured in a motor vehicle accident last year, when a car turned left in front of his vehicle in Auburn Hills, Michigan. He suffered numerous broken bones and spent almost five weeks in the hospital. His driver, a retired Michigan State Police trooper, was left a quadriplegic by the crash.

With surgery, there really are no "little" mistakes

On behalf of Stephen M. O'Brien III, PLLC on Friday, March 15, 2013.

It seems simple enough. During a surgical procedure, where sponges are used, one counts all of the sponges used during the procedure. Before the incision is closed up and the surgery complete, one counts the sponges that were removed from the patient. Being basic arithmetic, the sum of the addition of the sponges that were removed should equal the number that was used. Easy enough.

But, according to a story from the USA Today, more than a dozen times a day, the math does not add up. Somehow, a sponge or two is left behind. What follows will not improve anybody's appetite. The body attacks the foreign item and often patients experience pain, swelling and a myriad of other deleterious effects from the item, often for years before the cause is discovered. These cases are always medical malpractice, as it is clearly negligence for medical personal to leave sponges, forceps and surgical equipment inside a patient's body.

Lexington KY Medical Malpractice Law Blog