An IV, short for “intravenous,” is a familiar medical device used by doctors and nurses to administer various medications and other fluids to patients by inserting a needle or tube directly into the patient’s vein. Once the IV is inserted into the vein, it typically is taped to the skin to…
A wrongful birth medical malpractice case alleges that a heath care provider such as a doctor (such as an OBGYN or radiologist), hospital or laboratory was negligent by failing to properly inform a pregnant mother that her fetus had some serious medical condition, so that the mother would have had…
This week, a jury hearing a medical malpractice case in Dallas awarded $19.7 million to the family of a woman who suffered catastrophic and ultimately fatal brain damage as the result of her healthcare providers’ negligence. In 2013 the woman presented to a local hospital with a chief complaint of…
An Idaho jury has awarded $3.85 million to a married couple after the wife suffered a catastrophic brain injury as the result of alleged improper removal of a catheter from her neck. According to the lawsuit, while in the hospital a nurse improperly removed a central venous catheter line which…
Earlier this year, a Detroit jury awarded $21 million to the family of a woman who died following a brain surgery that she was never supposed to undergo. A copy of the article regarding the case can be found here. The 81 year-old presented to the hospital in January of…
A family, whose daughter died as a result of an untreated brain aneurysm, recently has settled their wrongful death lawsuit against a medical group comprised of more than 400 doctors, prior to the case going to trial. More details of the case can be found here. For years, the woman…
It should go without saying that a person who enters a hospital has certain expectations of the level of care they will receive and how the medical staff will behave. Hospitals can be frightening and intimidating, and patients rely on their physicians to ease their apprehensions and concerns. Above all,…
Recently, in a medical malpractice wrongful death case in Harford County, Maryland, a jury awarded more than $958,000 to the family of a woman who died after receiving “excessive amounts” of pain medication during a hospital stay. According to the lawsuit, the woman’s death resulted from the hospital providing hospice…
In 1999, the Institute of Medicine estimated that each year 98,000 Americans die as a result of medical malpractice. A recent study published in the Journal of Patient Safety says that number now is estimated to be between 210,000 and 440,000 patients. The new estimates, developed by John T. James,…
Unfortunately, some of the most common medical malpractice lawsuits involve a doctor of hospital’s failure to diagnose a patient properly. When a patient seeks medical help, he or she trusts that their doctor or hospital will perform the necessary steps to diagnose what is causing their symptoms ultimately provide the…
There are many hidden and unknown dangers in the very places we expect to heal; for example, hospital beds. Many of these hospital beds have rails, typically made of metal, that run along the side of the sleeping space. These bed rails operate to prevent someone from rolling off accidentally.…
The New York Times recently ran a fascinating op ed by Joanna Schwartz, a professor at UCLA. The subject was a study that Professor Schwartz did on the value of medical malpractice litigation in reducing medical errors. Professor Schwartz’s conclusion was that medical malpractice claims and lawsuits actually don’t result…
A number of news organizations are reporting today that lawyers in Baltimore are racing to the courthouse to file lawsuits against Dr. Nikita Levy and Johns Hopkins Hospital. When I heard that, I sadly chuckled. The only thing that these lawyers know now is what the media is reporting. There…
Over the last few days, news reports have surfaced that a gynecologist / obstetrician who worked for Johns Hopkins, Dr. Nikita Levy, was improperly taking photographs and videos of patients. Apparently, a co-worked reported Dr. Levy to a supervisor at Hopkins on 2/4/13 which resulted in Dr. Levy being fired…
Johns Hopkins Hospital researchers recently uncovered a startling figure regarding hospital medical malpractice: 40,500 intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients die each year as a result of misdiagnosis, as opposed to life threatening conditions that cannot be treated. The study, released September 26, 2012, found that patients in the ICU are…