Results tagged “burn injuries” from Medical Malpractice Lawyers & Attorneys

An Ohio jury has awarded 1.3 million to a woman who suffered second degree burns on her face and neck after a fire erupted in the operating room where she was having an outpatient procedure.

Lauren Wargo, who was having a mole removed from her right eyebrow, was sedated and receiving oxygen through a face mask when plastic surgeon Dr. Bryan Michelow activated an electocautery device (known as a bovie) that caused a fire to erupt in the operating room. In the lawsuit, Wargo alleged that Michelow was negligent in failing to communicate with anesthesia assistant who was responsible for monitoring the oxygen mask. The lawsuit claims that Michelow should have known to tell the assistant to turn off the oxygen. During the trial, Michelow blamed the assistant for not knowing he was going to use the bovie.

The jury found that Dr. Michelow was 100% at fault for the incident, and awarded Wargo $872,000 in damages. The jury also discovered that Michelow concealed the truth about the cause of the fire from Wargo and her parents, which resulted in an additional award of  $425,000 in punitive damages.

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In Chicago, Illinois, the family of an 11 year old girl have decided to file a lawsuit against physicians at a surgical clinic in Hinsdale.  The family decided to move forward with the lawsuit after the young girl suffered facial burns while at the surgical center.

The lawsuit was filed in Cook County Circuit Court and the defendants listed are a surgeon, an anesthesiologist and two nurses.  The plaintiffs are the parents of the burn injury victim, Mr. and Mrs. James Farnan.  The parents allege in their lawsuit that while their daughter was undergoing a surgical procedure at the center, she suffered facial burns because the medical team acted negligently and failed to follow safety guidelines throughout the surgery.  In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs say that the doctors and nurses were medically negligent, which resulted in supplemental oxygen igniting during the surgery and severe burns on the 11 year old girl's face.   The burn injury occurred in February of 2007. 

When the family's lawyer filed a medical malpractice lawsuit with the civil court, he alleged that during the surgical procedure, a cautery tool that was being used by the surgeon ignited the supplemental oxygen near the girl's face, which led to her catastrophic injuries.  He said that the fire immediately engulfed the girl's head and face and led to the girl sustaining permanent injuries and facial scars. 

The family's attorney said that the medical team failed to respond to the emergency and also failed to transfer the young victim to a medical burn unit, which led to irreparable damage and scarring.

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