Suffolk County

Published on: March 17, 2012

Birth injuries may happen either before, during or just after birth

by Stephen Bilkis

Birth injuries may happen either before, during or just after birth and typically tend to involve oxygen deprivation to the child’s brain. These kinds of birth injuries are usually referred to as hypoxic brain injuries and in most cases, the child’s life will never be normal. Depending on how severe the birth injury is, the child may require medical care for the rest of their lives and never know what living a normal life means, explained the spokesperson.

The parents in this case were expecting a normal delivery and weren’t anticipating any difficulties with their baby. They trusted their doctor to do the right thing. Unfortunately, while the doctor was trying to do the right thing, he made three egregious errors that forever changed the baby’s life. He burst the membranes in her head, didn’t resuscitate her properly and didn’t immediately order a C-section. This resulted in medical malpractice.

As a direct result of this doctor’s errors, the baby sustained a hypoxic brain injury and for the rest of her life she and her parents will deal with her inability to hear properly, her learning disabilities and her cerebral palsy, indicated the report. Hospitals and doctors in Nassau and Suffolk Counties have had to learn to deal with these situations.

Published on: February 21, 2012

Family Receives $19.2 After Daughter Was Given A Wrong Dose

by Stephen Bilkis

A Florida family recently received a settlement or $19.2 million, in a suit that could be the first of its kind in the area. However, the payment for medical malpractice of the settlement may become dicey.

In 2007, only 15 days after her birth at HealthPark Medical Center, the family’s baby daughter was given a dose of “nutrients”. However, the dosage was wrong, and it was filled as 100 times the dose, stated a doctor. The mistake led to severe complications, including cardiac arrest.

A study explained that after the mistake that almost cost their daughter her life, the family sued the Lee Memorial Health System. The baby girl, now three and a half years old, still suffers severe effects from the accident. She is blind and has cerebral palsy. Her injuries will cause her to need constant care for the rest of her life. She will always be wheelchair bound. She will need to be fed and cared for the rest of her life.

Published on: February 5, 2012

Kansas Supreme Court Orders a Re-Argument In Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

by Stephen Bilkis

A Topeka Chief Justice ordered on Friday for re-arguments to begin in the Kansas Supreme Court on a highly watched medical malpractice lawsuit to begin on February 18th. The Kansas Supreme Court first heard arguments in this case in October of 2009 and has not issued a decision.

A source disclosed that the case is based on a Eudora woman who went in for surgery to have her right ovary removed in 2002. Instead, the surgeon removed her left ovary. The woman sued for malpractice, and in 2006 the Douglas County jury returned a verdict of $759,680. This award includes medical expenses, non-economic losses and future non-economic losses, future medical expenses, and loss or impairment of services as a spouse. The non-economic losses were awarded for pain, disability, suffering, mental anguish and physical disfigurement.

According to a report, a District Court Judge slashed several of the award amounts because of a Non-economical cap that is in place. The woman’s attorneys claim that this has violated her personal constitutional right to a trial by jury, and infringes on the constitutional authority of the judiciary. Doctors, businesses and companies support the cap, saying that it keeps health care and insurance costs down.

Published on: January 30, 2012

Los Angeles Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Settled

by Stephen Bilkis

A $1.175 million medical malpractice settlement between Los Angeles County and a patient of Harbor-UCLA Medical Center has been reached. The patient of the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center suffered a punctured blood vessel.

The claim took place after the patient, a minor at the time, received treatment at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in November of 2008 for injuries she sustained following an automobile accident, tells a reporter. Her guardian filed the claim.

According to the word received, a catheter tip that was being inserted into the patient accidentally punctured a blood vessel wall. This medical mistake caused the patient undisclosed further medical complications, and she was treated and released several days later. No further information was available pertaining to any medical problems that may have arisen from the medical accident.

Published on: January 21, 2012

Health care remains a problem due to fear

by Stephen Bilkis

Is too much money being spent on dying patients? 60 Minutes on the CBS News recently aired a segment called “The Cost of Dying,” which was a breakdown of events that happen with patients in hospitals in the Intensive Care Units and the high costs associated with keeping them alive, said a new study.

75% of our nation’s deaths occur in hospitals, and it was estimated on the show that patient’s lives are prolonged in some cases for up to $10,000 per day and that in America the last two months of patient’s lives is costing Medicare $55 billion. According to a report, this might be unnecessary 30% of the time.

In one of the cases mentioned on the show, 25 additional doctors were called in as consultants on a dying 80 year old woman. Each doctor received $100 or more for five minutes of their time, said a representative, and added that Medical Insurance Companies make it difficult for these doctors to do much else.

Published on: January 10, 2012

$633K Award offered in malpractice case

by Stephen Bilkis

In a civil court in the country of Cambria, a man received an award of over $633K to compensate him in a medical malpractice case, according to a report. The man claimed that the care that he received was negligent and as a result he had to have his right leg amputated.

The man sought the help of a good medical malpractice lawyer who filed the lawsuit on behalf of his client against the doctors that he claimed committed this act against him. The source was quick to agree that the man did have a legitimate claim.

The case went before a jury that took two and a half days to deliberate the case and come to a desirable verdict for the man and his wife. They agreed with the man and the report that the man received unsatisfactory care that was definitely below the standard of medicine.

Published on: December 29, 2011

Sponge left in Abdomen

by Stephen Bilkis

According to a reporter, a woman claims to have had a sponge left in her abdomen after surgery. She claims to have gone to her OB/GYN and that her doctor had left something foreign in her abdomen after she did a Caesarean section operation.

The woman claimed medical malpractice against the doctor who performed the operation. She claimed that the obstetrician performed the operation without having the proper medical assistance. She thinks that this is what probably caused the problem of her having to suffer a potential hernia.

The expert agreed that the woman had a viable complaint and that the doctor was negligent. When the woman began to feel pain in the abdomen, she sought medical attention and discovered that the lower part of her left abdomen had a sponge marker. She had to have it removed surgically claims the advocate.

Published on: December 20, 2011

The jury trial found in favor of the plaintiff parents

by Stephen Bilkis

When their baby was born with spina bifida, aka a congenital neural tube defect, the parents filed a medical malpractice and wrongful birth lawsuit stating that they had not been told about the purpose of a blood test, referred to as the Triple Marker Test or Alphafetoprotein test, offered to them during the pregnancy, which was to determine if the baby had spina bifida. As a consequence of not being told, the mother did not have the blood test, said the source.

The parents felt that by not being told about the reason for the blood test that they were denied the chance to make an informed decision about continuing the pregnancy or not. When their child was born with a defect, both were devastated and filed for economic and non-economic losses, along with a claim for wrongful life. This motion to hear the claim for wrongful life was precluded and only the parent’s claims were heard.

The jury trial found in favor of the plaintiff parents and awarded past and future economic damages totaling $5 million. Another $5 million was handed down in non-economic damages to the mother and a further $2 million to the father, reported the newspapers.

Published on: December 8, 2011

Medical Malpractice filed for breast implants

by Stephen Bilkis

An observer reported that a woman in Carrollton has taken the initiative to file a federal lawsuit for compensation from the U.S. government. The woman alleged that she was not given the correct size implants that she had ordered for her breast implantation. Her lawsuit states that she had wanted a much larger sized implant.

According to the evidence, the woman has alleged to have traveled miles away from home to have the procedure done. It was at that time that she found out that there was a terrible mistake in what she had ordered compared to what she was getting.

The evidence indicates that the woman’s lawsuit is for $150,000 in which the woman is seeking pain and suffering damages, mental agony as well as her travel costs.

Published on: December 3, 2011

Pregnancy gone wrong, results in birth of stillborn child

by Stephen Bilkis

This medical malpractice lawsuit was filed on behalf of a woman whose delivery was botched so badly that she delivered a stillborn child. The facts of this case are really heart wrenching.

Jane Doe was pregnant in 2009 and a patient at a local women’s clinic. Doe was diagnosed with gestational diabetes in the last stages of her pregnancy. During week 39 of her pregnancy, she went to the health center concerned about discharges she was having. Her blood sugar level was very high. When her primary care doctor found out about the high blood sugar level, he told medical staff to send her home, tell her to consume more water and put her feet up. The doctor never personally “saw” his patient at that time.

For the next six days, the woman kept having discharges and called the ER many times to discuss her symptoms. She was told to put her feet up and drink more water and that her symptoms were normal, because she was dehydrated.