New York Malpractice & Injury Lawyer Blog

April 11, 2016

What Happens When You File a Cerebral Palsy Lawsuit?

by Bottar Law, PLLC

Human-Male-White-Newborn-Baby-Crying If your child was diagnosed with cerebral palsy shortly after birth, there is little doubt that you experienced feelings of anxiety and sadness. It is not unusual. You expected a healthy baby and had already been planning for its future. Those dreams have been altered, and you are left wondering how you will provide a level of care for your child that you were not expecting necessary.

Many families who have a child with cerebral palsy choose to file lawsuits for medical malpractice. If you have chosen to do the same, you may be wondering what will happen once your lawsuit is filed. Here is a bit of what you need to know.

Once you have filed your lawsuit, your attorney will start to build your case. All important documents will be gathered as well as evidence that will be needed to win your case. Your attorney will want you to keep track of all of your child’s medical appointments and documentation. You cannot provide your attorney with too much information.

April 8, 2016

Why Doctors Make Mistakes

by Bottar Law, PLLC

8138604557_954ffcb1c7 It is not unusual for people to put medical professionals on pedestals. We assume that they are more intelligent than the average person. When doctors and other medical professionals make mistakes, we feel a sense of disappointment and disbelief.

It’s important to remember that doctors are human, too. Errors occur, and mistakes happen when even the best standards of care are practiced. So what causes a doctor to make an error? While every situation is unique, there are several factors that may contribute to a medical mistake.

1. Uninformed Patients

April 7, 2016

Mother Takes on Medical Malpractice Legalities

by Bottar Law, PLLC

Short_leg_cast A mother in Pasco County, Florida is taking on the law, and not in a way that you may think. The woman has not been arrested. She is not a criminal. What she is is a grieving mother who has lost her son and is finding that she has very little recourse, if any.

According to reports, Javier Roldan, 33, was born with spina bifida. Roldan broke his leg in February and went to a Pinellas County hospital for treatment. Just six short days later, Roldan was dead. The man’s mother, Jeanette Gonzalez, says that doctors did not listen to her.

Roldan apparently became ill in the hospital. Gonzalez pointed out her concerns to doctors, but those concerns fell on deaf ears. While someone in another state may be able to file a suit for malpractice, Gonzalez cannot. Why? Because of Florida’s Wrongful Death Act.

April 6, 2016

Help Prevent Pediatric Medical Errors

by Bottar Law, PLLC

A study, although conducted in 2001, pointed out that medication errors were three times more likely to occur in children than adults. The rate of other medical errors was comparable. As a parent, the last thing you expect when visiting the pediatrician with your child is negligence or error.

Unfortunately, errors among pediatric patients do occur. There are some things that you can do to help avoid those errors. From mistakes to misdiagnoses, keeping your child safe at the doctor is partly in your hands. Here is what you can do:

1. Share All Medical Information

April 5, 2016

New Jersey Woman Wins $9 Million Settlement

by Bottar Law, PLLC

4278196_c89acd8c9c_o_d A woman from Newark, New Jersey was recently awarded a $9 million settlement. According to The NY Post, it is the largest payout made by Health and Hospitals Corp. in the last fiscal year.

According to reports, Ebony Curry, a woman with autism, fell down a flight of stairs in 2011. She was taken to Kings County Hospital, but doctors failed to diagnose her injury. She was sent home after only being in the ER for five hours. After Curry was sent home, a radiologist noticed her spinal injury on an X-ray but did not notify the woman or her family. Curry had emergency surgery at a different hospital but is a quadriplegic today.

When it comes to Health and Hospitals Corporation, they settled more than 200 lawsuits last year. The total payout? $124 million. While the $9 million may help the woman hire the caregivers she needs, it certainly is nothing compared to having complete mobility.

April 4, 2016

How You Can Help Prevent Misdiagnosis

by Bottar Law, PLLC

When you don’t feel quite like yourself, you deserve to know why. You deserve to know why without unnecessary delay. Unfortunately, it is not always easy to pinpoint the exact cause of an illness when so many symptoms can be indicative of different ailments.

It is difficult to determine just how many cases are misdiagnosed every year, but it is estimated that there is a misdiagnosis rate of between 10 and 15 percent. Of the conditions misdiagnosed, heart attack, appendicitis, breast cancer, colon cancer and lung cancer top the list.

Because you want to get the right diagnosis from your doctor, here are five things you should do.

March 25, 2016

Unnecessary Surgery? You May Have a Medical Malpractice Case

by Bottar Law, PLLC

Wings_Laparoscopic_operating_theatre People check into the hospital for surgery on a daily basis. In fact, there are just under 50 million surgeries performed in the United States each year. Most surgeries performed are necessary and many improve or save lives. Scarily for some, as many as 50 percent of the surgeries performed may be unnecessary to the patient.

Any surgery is a risk. You could hemorrhage, experience damage to your internal organs or develop an infection. Almost all surgeries require that you take time off of your job to recover. It stands to reason that people would only want to undergo surgery if it was absolutely necessary.

How Common Is the Problem?

March 24, 2016

British Man Receives Vasectomy He Did Not Want

by Bottar Law, PLLC

hqdefault A doctor in England may soon be paying for a very serious mistake. Dr. Nanikram Vaswani, employed by Broadgreen Hospital in Liverpool, performed a vasectomy on the wrong patient. He now faces the loss of his license as his “patient” deals with physical and emotional trauma.

The patient’s name has not been released due to privacy concerns. It is known, however, that the man was booked to have scar tissue removed. The surgery, scheduled in February 2014, was performed supposedly without incident. That was until the mix-up was realized. Instead of having scar tissue removed, the man lost his ability to procreate.

According to the lawsuit, neither the doctor nor a nurse realized that the wrong patient was on the table. Vaswani did not realize he had made a mistake until the surgery was over and it was too late to correct his error. Apparently, there was a backlog of patients on that fateful day, and the patient paid the price.

March 23, 2016

What Is “Standard of Care”?

by Bottar Law, PLLC

5936305758_bf3e7fa920_o_d In a medical malpractice lawsuit, one of the elements to be proven is “standard of care.” But what exactly does that mean? It is important that you understand the term because you will be talking about it frequently as you move forward with a medical malpractice lawsuit. Our lawyers explain what the term means.

Four Elements of a Successful Medical Malpractice Case

To win a medical malpractice case, you and your attorney must prove:

March 22, 2016

Iowa Woman Files $15 Million Medical Malpractice Claim

by Bottar Law, PLLC

A 54-year-old woman in Linn County filed a medical malpractice claim against the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics to the tune of $15 million. The woman claims that a surgery she underwent caused paralysis and affected her ability to speak. She also claims she suffered other injuries her lawyers claim were debilitating.

Joyce Bohren, a full-time cook at Jones Regional Medical Center, underwent surgery in 2014. The surgery was to remove benign tumors. Prior to the surgery, Bohren had to issues with her motor skills, vision or speech. It was after she woke up that the problems began.

The lawsuit claims that surgeons cut Bohren’s middle cerebral artery during the operation. The cut caused a stroke and Bohren was left paralyzed on the right side of her body. She was unable to control her bowel or bladder function, was unable to swallow and could not speak. As a result of the mishap, Bohren requires around-the-clock care.