Although this particular case did not occur in the state of Kentucky, it very well could have here or anywhere else in the country. A nursing home has been named in a wrongful death lawsuit over the death of one of its patients due to a purported overdose of...
Month: January 1970
Woman’s estate awarded almost $2 million for misdiagnosis death
In July 2009, a 25-year-old woman, who was six months pregnant, sought emergency care at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for respiratory problems. According to court documents in a medical malpractice lawsuit against the hospital and two...
With surgery, there really are no “little” mistakes
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...
Surgery on wrong side of woman’s brain leads to lawsuit
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...
Study finds hospitals make more money from medical mistakes and errors
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...
Prostate biopsy errors on the rise
Some of our Kentucky readers may be seasoned veterans when it comes to the uncomfortable topic of the annual prostate exam. Whether or not you'd had to undergo a prostate biopsy, you may still be shocked to know the rate of medical errors associated with the results.A...
Prescription drugs leading cause of overdose deaths
Deaths from drug overdoses have increased for the 11th year in a row, but the majority of those deaths were not from illegal street drugs, but instead prescription drugs received from doctors. The report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found...
Patients in a hospital need a checklist
Patients go into the hospital when they are sick, and unfortunately, sometimes they go to the hospital and instead of becoming well, they become sicker. A woman who had two members of her family who suffered adverse events relating to medical negligence, investigated...
Medical negligence suit filed over Kentucky teen’s death
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...
Jury hits insurer with $500 million punitive damage verdict for hepatitis infection
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...
