In The News

March 18, 2016

Two Lawsuits Filed Against Texas Hospital in One Week

by Bottar Law, PLLC

A Waco, Texas hospital, Baylor Scott & White Health, was hit with two separate medical malpractice lawsuits earlier this month, filed just days apart.

In the first lawsuit filed, Randall and Sandra Clark, of Duck River, Tennessee, claims that Randall Clark entered the hospital in December 2013. His intent was to have a hiatal hernia and gastroesophageal reflux disease repaired. The scheduled surgery, a laparotomy, was exploratory in nature.

During the operation, doctors noted a large amount of bleeding from an artery. That bleeding was brought under control and the operation was begun. Sponges and pads were used to control the bleeding, and doctors noticed that all sponges were not accounted for after surgery. A radiograph did not locate the missing sponge inside Clark.

March 15, 2016

NFL Exec Agrees: Football Does Cause CTE

by Bottar Law, PLLC

For the first time ever, the National Football League has officially acknowledged that the sport leads to brain damage. The statement came from Jeff Miller, the league’s senior vice president for health and safety. In a roundtable discussion with the United States House of Representatives’ Committee on Energy and Commerce, Miller was asked if there was a link between football and brain damage and diseases like chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. His response?

“The answer to that question is certainly yes.”

Even after years and years of inquisition and multiple class action lawsuits, the NFL has taken the staunch stance that their sport has no connection to brain damage. But now that their senior vice president for health and safety has stated otherwise, what does it mean for the NFL? Will they survive the fresh onslaught of lawsuits that are sure to be heading their way?

March 14, 2016

Pharmacist Attempts to Explain Away Mistake

by Bottar Law, PLLC

6213018330_ecd363b817_o_d There are questions rolling in after a mother claims a pharmacist’s negligence injured her daughter. While many people first consider doctors when the subject of medical malpractice arises, pharmacists can be held just as liable. Many people are watching this case with bated breath to discover exactly what the outcome will be.

According to reports, the mother went to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription for her daughter. The bag had her daughter’s name on the outside, but the bottle and medication inside the bag belonged to another patient.

A pharmacist not involved in the case attempted to explain how prescriptions are filled, hoping to reinstill the faith that people have in pharmacies and their workers. According to this pharmacist, people in her profession are the last line before a drug is passed into the hands of a patient. The people on this line should be triple checking to be sure that they are not handing over what amounts to a mistake.

March 11, 2016

Mother Steals Daughter’s Medical Malpractice Settlement

by Bottar Law, PLLC

A child, born in 2004, suffered a brachial plexus injury. Because of the severity of the damage, the girl was left with limited, if any, function in her right arm. Rightfully, her mother filed a suit against St. John’s Episcopal Hospital in New York in 2007 on behalf of her daughter.

A settlement was reached in the suit, and the payments were structured so that the girl would begin receiving them after her 18th birthday. To seed the account, $50,000 was placed at Cross County Federal Savings. That money was to be used for the child’s benefit.

According to reports, Megan Mele, 31, was required to make an official request of the courts to withdraw any money from that account. On March 27, 2015, Mele gave the bank a forged court order that stated the child was going to have surgery in San Diego. The bank issued a check to Mele, in her name, for $47,000.

March 9, 2016

New Zealand Doctor Accused of Negligence

by Bottar Law, PLLC

A doctor in Auckland, New Zealand has been accused of negligence after having ignored the advice of his colleagues and ultimately causing the death of an unborn baby.

According to reports, a mother expecting her fifth child entered the North Shore Hospital after her water broke. The woman was deemed to be high risk due to her age. When a cardiotocograph recorded a low heart rate in the infant, her doctor was called into the room.

The charge says that the baby was suffering from prolonged bradycardia, and the doctor should have prepared the mother for an emergency delivery. Instead, the doctor failed to recognized the situation and waited for nearly one half hour before ordering an emergency caesarean section. The child was eventually delivered stillborn.

March 3, 2016

$30 Million Settlement One of Largest Ever

by Bottar Law, PLLC

UW_surgery_and_residents In 2011, a 6-year-old child suffered brain injury during an operation. His mother filed a lawsuit for medical malpractice and was awarded a $30 million settlement last week. The suit named Dr. Mark Holterman and Rush University Medical Center at fault in the child’s injury.

According to details of the case, Ezequiel Chavez was born with a leak in his esophagus. This non-life-threatening condition required surgery for repair. The baby’s care was transferred to Rush in late 2010.

In 2011, Holterman performed a surgical procedure on the child and severed his pulmonary artery. The risky and novel procedure was careless, according to the family’s attorney. The doctor demonstrated a lack of oversight. Holterman left Rush shortly after that surgery.

March 2, 2016

Pennsylvania Nurse Drunk During Surgery

by Bottar Law, PLLC

Medal_slot_machine It is quite reasonable to expect that the team performing your surgery will be doing so while sober. Unfortunately for one patient, a nurse at a veteran’s hospital assisted in surgery after consuming four to five beers. Aside from being charged with driving under the influence and public drunkenness, the male nurse is also being charged with recklessly endangering another person. Here is what happened:

On February 4, Richard Pieri entered the hospital and found it difficult to log onto the computer system. He entered incorrect operation time stamps into the system after finally being able to log in. He then chose to assist in a surgical procedure, monitoring the patient’s vital signs and helping to prepare the patient for surgery.

According to police reports, the nurse went to the Mohegan Sun Pocono Casino for a bit of leisure time. It was there that he played slots and consumed alcohol. He left the casino and headed home to sleep it off. Just over five hours after he arrived at the casino, he was called in for surgery. Pieri told police that he had forgotten that he was on call that evening.

March 1, 2016

Million Dollar Malpractice Suit Settled in L.A. County

by Bottar Law, PLLC

Basketball_ball385428_9836 Last week, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors decided to pay a man who had been left paralyzed $4.5 million.

The settlement with former patient of L.A. County/USC Medical Center, Justin Malone, also calls for his $790,000 in treatment costs to be waived and for the county to cover the approximately $200,000 he would have been forced to repay MediCal.

According to the facts of the case, Malone was a hardwood floor installer in 2010 when he was involved in a motorcycle crash. He was treated at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for a ruptured aorta. The surgery involved repairing a stent-graft. Just over a year later, Malone collapsed during a basketball game and was taken to the L.A. County/USC Medical Center emergency room. He was admitted to the hospital.

February 26, 2016

Rex Morgan’s Widow Suing Lab for Malpractice

by Bottar Law, PLLC

3376254404_07b4a304f7_o_d Rex Morgan, the iconic Jacksonville basketball icon, died of oral cancer last month. According to his widow Kathleen, his death was preventable. She has filed a lawsuit against Quest Diagnostics to prove it.

According to records, Morgan was diagnosed with cancer in 2010. The cancer was located in Morgan’s tonsils, and the man underwent treatment. Just a year later, in November, a tongue biopsy performed by Quest Diagnostics showed no malignancy in a tongue biopsy sample.

In 2013, a second biopsy detected cancer. It was at that time that Morgan asked a different doctor to look at the samples submitted in 2011. That doctor found that those samples had indeed been cancerous. Aggressive treatment was started immediately following the 2013 biopsy but, by then, it was too late.

February 24, 2016

Birth Injury Fund Getting Arguments from Both Sides

by Bottar Law, PLLC

Pregnant_woman2 Arguments for and against a birth injury fund in Maryland are heating up. The fund, modeled after those already in place in Florida and Virginia, is aimed at protecting families of babies who have been born with birth injuries. Monies from the fund would eliminate the need for families to participate in litigation against medical professionals and hospitals.

State legislatures across the country are keeping an eye on the debate. If the bill passes, Maryland will be the third state in the nation with such a fund. Although its purpose is to protect mothers and babies, the bill has malpractice attorneys and hospitals pitted against one another.

Those who support the bill say that its passage would help to ensure continued access to obstetrical care. It would also offer families an alternative to expensive and lengthy lawsuit battles. Those who are against the bill say that it effectively takes away a family’s constitutional right to have a trial by jury. It also allows hospitals and doctors avoid legal responsibility.