Articles Posted in Westchester County

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The settlement was a low amount considering the nature of the birth injuries and the fact the child could never be left alone for the rest of its life. The damage award was based on a 47% negligence ratio assessed against the defendant doctor.

The case was appealed on the grounds that the damages were far too low given the egregious nature of the doctor’s actions. The Appellate court agreed that the damages were far too low and directed a new trial to deal with damages only. They had no problem ordering a new trial, as there was ample evidence on record that indicated the residents at the hospital and the on call physician, who subsequently died, were negligent.

The on call physician didn’t supervise any of the treatment provided to the mother in this case and his lack of oversight resulted in severe brain damage to the baby. In other words, there was a direct link between the doctor’s negligence and the baby’s brain damage – referred to as proximate cause.

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A mother of a young girl who suffers from many medical conditions, including Cerebral Palsy, asthma and epilepsy is looking for possible treatment options. The girl who is 9 suffers from seizures and many other medical complications.

The medical disorders are affecting the girl because of medical malpractice when she was born. This was caused because the baby was in an awkward position when she was being born. It was argued that this could have been prevented fairly easily if a C-section was done quickly. Instead the baby was born two weeks late.

The family hired a Lawyer and successfully managed to sue the hospital and the emergency room doctor. The family received a settlement of $1 million dollars. The money left over after paying court costs was put into a trust fund to provide for the child’s future healthcare bills.

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A former patient of David Chao, the Chargers Team doctor, recently received a $2.2 million settlement by an arbitration panel. The panel found Chao negligent when he performed her hip operation in May of 2007. The patient claims that Chao lacerated her femoral artery, vein and nerve, causing chronic pain and a limp.

This is not the first time that Chao, a 46-year old doctor, has been sued in recent months stated a doctor. In 2009 a male patient sued him and other care providers after a knee replacement surgery, which also took place in 2007. The man reported that Chaos carelessness resulted in an amputation of the leg. Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla agreed to a $1.39 million settlement, according to report.

Chao has been sued 20 times since 1998 by various patients, ranging from charges off malpractice to personal injury, fraud, or negligence. At least eight have been settled with payouts to the plaintiffs.

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An eighteen year old girl has suffered all her life due to a doctor’s negligence, and finally will receive some recompense. Her doctor has been ordered to pay the family three million dollars for the injuries he caused. The young girl has many health issues, including cerebral palsy, explains an expert . The money will cover past, present, and future medical expenses that the family will incur, as well as pain and suffering and rehabilitation.

When the girl’s mother went into labor, the doctor was called to the hospital to perform a Caesarian Section. It took the physician three to four hours to respond to the call and start surgery. This delay, believes experts and friends, is what caused the problems that the girl has faced for 18 years. The compression of the umbilical cord resulted in “fetal asphyxia”. It is against hospital policy for the doctor and the midwife to be off the premises for several hours at the same time. One should have remained at the hospital. The midwife was also charged and brought to trial, but found not responsible for the malpractice injuries the girl suffered.

The physician claims that the mother’s obesity or genetics are to blame for her daughter’s condition, but the jury found otherwise. According to court documents, the doctor found no signs of umbilical cord compression. The physician and his attorney refused to comment to a reporter about the verdict. The doctor’s malpractice insurance will cover $2 million, and he will most likely be responsible for the remainder. Hospitals in New York City and Westchester are studying this case.

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A reporter was quick to point out that a Federal Judge permitted a legal motion to add a medical malpractice claim to one filed against the country Sheriff, the county and other jailers of a wrongful death case.

“The Judge made her ruling and granted permission for changes to the filed complaint,” said a media representative to an advocate .

The defendant’s sister filed a lawsuit against the county Sheriff, the jail nurse and the county for a wrongful death claim. The defendant died at a hospital after he suffered a heart attack in jail where he was incarcerated. The sister of the defendant felt that her brother was misdiagnosed and did not receive the medical care that he should to save his life.

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Nearly 70 percent of doctors over the age of 50 have been sued according the American Medical Association, reported a study. He went on to say that many of these claims are dismissed but 95 out of 100 doctors will be sued at some point in their career.

These staggering numbers will likely harm doctor’s ability to provide their patience with quality care claimed a representative for the American Medical Association. He added that our country continues to work hard to reduce unnecessary health care costs and these statistics just don’t help.

In a survey conducted by the AMA, it was clear that certain types of doctors or surgeons were much more likely to be sued than others. General Surgeons, OBGYNs men doctors, and practice owners were most likely to be sued, whereas Pediatricians, women doctors, younger doctors and Psychologists were least likely to be sued. Only about 5 percent of doctors are sued per year, a study pointed out.

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When this medical malpractice case first went to trial, the doctor was found negligence and the jury awarded $1,500,000, a low amount considering the nature of the birth injuries and the fact the child could never be left alone for the rest of its life. The damage award was based on a 47% negligence ratio assessed against the defendant doctor.

The case was appealed on the grounds that the damages were far too low given the egregious nature of the doctor’s actions, explained the source. The Appellate court agreed that the damages were far too low and directed a new trial to deal with damages only. They had no problem ordering a new trial, as there was ample evidence on record that indicated the residents at the hospital and the on call physician, who subsequently died, were negligent.

The on call physician didn’t supervise any of the treatment provided to the mother in this case and his lack of oversight resulted in severe brain damage to the baby. In other words, there was a direct link between the doctor’s negligence and the baby’s brain damage – referred to as proximate cause.

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The last place one would expect to have narcotics for pain over prescribed would be in a pain clinic. Unfortunately, that is what happened in this egregious medical malpractice case. It was such a bad situation, that when the medical records of the clinic were subsequently checked prior to trial, it was discovered that other patients had experienced problems with this same clinic; problems that included addiction to medications and overdosing.

Four patients of the clinic that managed to survive their deadly drug regime chose to file a wrongful death and medical malpractice lawsuit against the clinic for over prescribing narcotics to clinic patents and causing addiction, withdrawal and two deaths.

The facts of the claim indicated the nurse practitioners went way overboard in prescribing narcotics and completely ignored the warning signs that two patients were demonstrating; two patients who ultimately died. The other two patients who sought compensation suffered severe addiction and devastating withdrawal symptoms. Evidently, there were also another six overdose deaths in 2007 and 2008.

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A 4 year old requiring eye surgery has recently had the wrong eye operated on due to a mix up at the hospital. It’s not clear whether or not his sight will be permanently damaged.

A surgeon recently operated on the wrong eye of a 4 year old Child, explains a New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer. The child may suffer permanent sight problems as a result of this. The surgery was supposed to be a fairly simple procedure, but it was overly complicated due to the confusion.

The doctor who operated on the wrong eye said that she simply made a mistake. According to the court notes read by the investigator the nurse ended up covering up a mark on the eye showing which eye needed surgery.

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A stay in the hospital can be an emotional and traumatic experience for most anyone. This is especially true when you or someone you love must be continually monitored due to an illness or injury. A New York Medical Malpractice Attorney also claims that their very lives often depend on the monitoring equipment being fully functional, and on hospital staff paying close attention to any indications that something may be happening that will require their attention to be focused on the patient.

All have learned that the best-case scenario of when an alarm sounds from a medical monitoring device, it may by ignored by medical personnel. There are also cases that have been reported of these life-saving alarms may not be sounded at all. Some recent reports in the investigative media have specified more than a few problems with this life-saving system–Problems that have cost some people their lives, and has forever altered others.

Sources have told a NY Medical Malpractice Attorney that when these alarms are ignored by hospital staff, it may be referred to as “alarm fatigue.” Medical personnel are confronted by as many as 1,000 alarms a day, in some cases. That is an astounding number, and while there are many of the alarms that indicate that a patient is in distress, there are also many more of these alarms that are false. Medical personnel are people too, and people tend to become conditioned or desensitized to external stimuli when that stimulus is persistent in its duration. Just to note that some medical equipment emits constant beeps in addition to alarms, which further adds to this desensitization. Hospitals in Westchester County and Staten Island would do well to study this case and make sure they don’t suffer the same fate.

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