Articles Posted in In The News

An 8-month-old infant was taken to a California hospital in June for a fever and a rash. Doctors said the boy had a viral infection. In reality, his symptoms weren’t indicative of a viral infection at all. Now the mother has filed a medical malpractice suit.

According to reports, Samantha Knox took her son to HealthCare Partners. She explained her concerns to doctors there, and Knox says her concerns were dismissed. Knox took her son back to the same hospital five or more times where providers questioned whether or not she was able to pay for the care her son was being given.

Knox finally decided to take her son to a different hospital, Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, where doctors took an X-ray. It was discovered that the boy had a penny lodged in his esophagus. He was taken to Miller Children’s Hospital and the penny was removed.

Many people unfortunately know Nina Pham by the name given to her by the media: Ebola Nurse. It was two years ago that Pham contracted Ebola at the hospital she worked for after treating Thomas Eric Duncan. The patient had contracted Ebola in Liberia.

Pham wore a shield, gloves, mask and gown while treating Duncan, but it wasn’t enough. Just two days after Duncan died, Pham was diagnosed with the disease. She continued to interact with family and friends because her employer had told her that she was at no risk for contracting the disease from Duncan. They turned out to be wrong and Pham sued.

Pham filed the lawsuit, alleging that the hospital was responsible for her contraction of the disease because they failed to provide her with proper warnings and safety gear. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention backed Pham’s opinion.

Late in August, the Florida Supreme Court put forth a decision that Robert Granicz may go ahead with a medical malpractice lawsuit in the wake of his wife’s 2008 death by suicide. The high court stated in their written decision:

“Although the inpatient duty to prevent suicide does not apply here, there still existed a statutory duty…to treat the decedent in accordance with the standard of care.”

A second district court had determined that the case should move ahead two years ago. The Supreme Court upheld that decision.

Last week, a Norwalk doctor settled with a woman in the amount of $2 million. The doctor, according to reports, misdiagnosed the woman with a headache. Dr. Donald McNicol, employed by the Norwalk Medical Group, agreed to pay before the case with Margaret Gabriele went to trial.

The woman claimed as part of her lawsuit that she went to see McNicol in 2011, claiming to have a severe headache. McNicol did not perform the appropriate diagnostic testing and did not recognize that the woman may have been suffering from a neurovascular event.

Because the doctor failed to perform up to the standard of care, Gabriele suffered an aneurysm which caused her to now need assistance with every aspect of her daily life. It is unclear whether or not the doctor will face any repercussions as a result of the suit or settlement.

It is no secret that diagnostic errors can lead to severe injury. It is a misconception that doctors and other medical professionals are not just as concerned about the rate of error as the general public. To address these concerns, Johns Hopkins Medicine is opening the Armstrong Institute Center of Diagnostic Excellence. Leading the center will be Dr. David Newman-Toker.

At the core of the center’s objectives is learning how to eliminate preventable harm through the use of innovative diagnostic tools. The center will be staffed by medical professionals of varying disciplines. Said Dr. Newman-Toker:

“Misdiagnosis is incredibly frequent because medicine is incredibly hard. There’s uncertainty, complexity and incomplete information all the time. But we can do better than we’re doing right now, and our new center will lead change to make that a reality.”

One of the executors of a deceased woman’s estate filed a lawsuit in Madison County Circuit Court, claiming that the woman died after taking a new prescription medication.

Judi Ashcroft, acting as both an individual and an executor of the estate of Wanda Phillips, filed the complaint in late October. Named in the complain is Dr. Sophia Rostovtseva, Unlimited Development Inc., Maryville Physicians’ Services LLC, Home Pharmacy Services LLC, UDI #2 LLC, and others. Ashcroft alleges that all involved failed to provide the accepted standard of medical care.

According to court documents, Ashcroft is alleging that Phillips was a patient of Liberty Village of Maryville in February 2015. It was at that time that Rostovtseva prescribed the woman fludrocortisone, a drug that should not have been prescribed with her heart condition. It was just two days later that Phillips’ mental state deteriorated and she was admitted to the hospital. Phillips never recovered.

One of the largest birth injury verdicts in Connecticut was handed down in mid-October. A former Norwich family was awarded $4.2 million after a jury decided that a midwife failed to perform a delivery correctly, resulting in permanent injuries.

According to the plaintiff’s lawyers, the infant was pulled from the womb incorrectly. The child suffered with a permanent shoulder injury as a result. The lawsuit filed presented several complaints. Midwife Brenda Gilmore, according to the family’s attorneys, failed to provide proper medical care, applied pressure and torsion to the infant, and used excessive traction.

As a result of Gilmore’s actions, the child suffers with Erb’s palsy, neuropathy, weakness, right arm atrophy, and shoulder dystocia. The injures have deprived the child of living a “normal” life and will mean years of medical care. The mother filed a complaint for her own emotional suffering and psychological distress stemming from the delivery.

A doctor in South Florida is accused of injuring four women during separate cosmetic procedures. The medical malpractice hearing of Dr. Osak Omulepu started last week in Fort Lauderdale. If the doctor is found guilty, he may have his license suspended or revoked.

According to records, each of the four women claim to have been hospitalized due to mistakes made by Omulepu during their cosmetic procedures. The women claim to have had life-threatening complications. One of the patients, a woman from Alabama, underwent a Brazilian Butt Lift procedure. She was hospitalized for a total of four months following the surgery and cannot feel one of her feet to this day.

The plaintiff’s attorneys told the court that the doctor injected fat into the woman’s sciatic nerve during the procedure. The result was nerve damage which may or may not be permanent. The other women claim that the doctor hit internal organs with his instruments during their procedures.

An Omaha couple was awarded $11.5 million by a jury last week after a jury found in their favor following a medical malpractice lawsuit. The suit was filed against Nebraska Methodist Hospital and Physicians Clinic. While the defendants in the case have expressed their sympathies, they do not believe that any wrongdoing occurred.

According to court documents, Jackson Cuenca, was born in November 2010. The family’s attorneys say that forceps were improperly used, the child had breathing difficulties that were not attended to, and that his health deteriorated during delivery. As a result of these mistakes and complications, Jackson was left permanently disabled. Attorneys for the plaintiffs also said that records were tampered with prior to being handed over as evidence.

An attorney representing the defendants said that the defense believes that Jackson suffered a stroke during labor or delivery. The defendants maintain that this medical emergency is what led to the child’s disabilities. The award will be used to pay for Jackson’s ongoing medical needs.

An inmate claims that he was denied medical treatment after complaining of a skin disorder. He filed a claim for medical malpractice, and that claim was dismissed close to two weeks ago by the Deleware Supreme Court.

According to court documents, Alan T. Brooks requested ultraviolet radiation treatment for vitiligo while incarcerated at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center. The skin condition causes blotches on the skin due to a lack of pigment.

The man filed a complaint against medical professionals at the prison, claiming that he developed the disease after undergoing open heart surgery in 2012. According to Brooks, a dermatologist prescribed ultraviolet therapy in 2015 to manage the skin condition.