Results tagged “misdiagnosis” from Medical Malpractice Lawyers & Attorneys

The family of Haylee Kroll, the now 15-year-old girl who suffered from a serious liver disease as a newborn, has been awarded $4.3 million by a Florida jury.

The misdiagnosis lawsuit was filed against four doctors at Coral Springs Medical Center, claiming that doctors misdiagnosed signs of a liver virus as normal bruising.

The virus has left Haylee with permanent vision problems, learning disabilities, and cirrhosis of the liver.

Haylee's parents suspected something was wrong with their newborn daughter when they noticed large bruises on her body. According to the lawsuit, the Kroll's were told that the bruises were not something to be concerned about and that they would eventually fade.  Soon after, Haylee began showing signs of jaundice, liver scarring, and a blood clot in the brain, leading doctors to believe she may have a fatal condition.

The Kroll's lawsuit also states that Haylee was showing recognizable signs of enterovirus, a mild illness that is particularly dangerous to newborns and infants.  The doctors failed to take any blood or liver tests that would have revealed the virus' presence.

Only two of the four doctors were found liable for Kroll's injuries, Dr. Jose Colindres and Dr. Sedigheh Zolfaghari.

For more information about these types of cases, please click here to find a medical malpractice lawyer near you!

A Wisconsin jury has awarded $3.7 million to the family of a farm worker who died after doctors failed to properly diagnose and treat an infection.

Gustavo Espinal-Santos died in January, 2004 after contracting a fungal infection known as blastomycosis, which is often transmitted through water or soil.

According to the medical malpractice lawsuit filed by Santos' family, the first time Santos came to Bellin Family Medical Center he was seen by a physician who concluded he was suffering from the effects of pneumonia. 

Santos' family is claiming the hospital was negligent in failing to run basic diagnostic tests, specifcially X-rays, that would have helped to diagnose his condition.

The jury returned their verdict after a four-day trial and eight hours of deliberation.  Both Bellin Health System and Dr. Peri Aldrich were found to be negligent in providing proper medical treatment to Santos.

Santos is survived by his wife and two daughters.

For more information about failure to diagnose cases, please click here to contact a medical malpractice attorney near you.

A settlement has been reached in a medical malpractice lawsuit filed by a Florida woman who claims she contracted a flesh-eating bacteria during the delivery of her child at Orlando Regional South Seminole Hospital.

Claudia Mejia Edwards, who eventually lost all four of her limbs, said the hospital attempted to discharge her after she complained of chills, rash, a fever, and other symptoms of the bacteria. Doctors eventually operated and discovered that Edwards had gangrene and Group A Streptococcal infection, which in layman's terms refers to a flesh-eating bacteria.  The removal of her limbs was necessary to prevent her death.

Edwards' lawyer alleged that one of her nurses was guilty of "wanton and reckless conduct" after she refused to testify under oath as to whether she was ever trained to identify the infection, and as to whether or not she noticed the infection on Edwards.

Doctors, nurses, hospitals, and other healthcare professionals have a legal duty to abide by the proper standard of medical care in their field.  When a medical professional fails to do this, and as a result causes injury or death to a patient, they can be sued for damages.

Edwards' lawsuit was settled for an unspecified amount.

For more information about misdiagnosis, click here to find a medical malpractice lawyer near you. 

A Clark County, Nevada District Court jury has returned a verdict of $2.5 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit involving a cancer misdiagnosis.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Elisa Sanchez, claims that Sanchez's doctor, Steven Lampinen, failed to diagnose cancer, which ultimately led to her death.  In 2004 Sanchez, who was 24 at the time, went to see Dr. Lampinen complaining of pain and blood in her stools.  After 7 months of continued visits to Dr. Lampinen and unresolved rectal bleeding and pain, Sanchez was rushed to University Medical Center in Las Vegas, where doctors diagnosed her with aggressive colon and rectal cancer.

After Sanchez died from the cancer in 2007, her family sued Dr. Lampinen and his nurse Brian Bishop on grounds of medical negligence for not conducting a proper examination, discounting her symptoms, and misdiagnosing the cancer, all of which ultimately led to her death according to the lawsuit. The attorney representing Sanchez's family is arguing that if Sanchez had been properly diagnosed and examined when she first complained of pain and blood in her stool, her cancer survival rate would have been 97 percent.

By the time Sanchez was accurately diagnosed, her survival rate dropped from 97 percent to 50 percent. After extensive chemotherapy and multiple surgeries, Sanchez died from the cancer in 2007.

To learn more about cancer misdiagnosis, please click here to contact a medical malpractice lawyer near you!

The wife of a man who died after contracting a staph infection has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the Florida doctors who failed to properly diagnose the infection that led to the man's death.

The widow of Ronald Carl claims that doctors at Oak Hill Hospital in Brooksville, Florida acted negligently when they failed to properly evaluate and treat a boil, which turned out to be a virulent staph infection known as MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus).

The lawsuit states that Carl went to the hospital to get the boil looked at by a doctor, but was sent home with only antibiotics. A culture test was never taken to determine the nature of the condition.

A culture was finally taken on the boil when Carl returned the hospital a few days later to control his blood sugar. But although tests indicated that Carl had a MRSA infection, he was never notified and it was not documented in his medical records.

The lawsuit further claims that two months after the hospital failed to diagnose the MRSA infection, Carl was readmitted to the hospital but there was a 21-hour delay before he could be examined and diagnosed with the infection.   Although he was put in the intensive care unit, he suffered a cardiac arrest hours later and died the next morning.

When left untreated, MRSA infections can be life-threatening, impacting multiple parts of the body including bones, joints, surgical wounds, the bloodstream, lungs, and heart valves.

To learn more about misdiagnosis, click here to find a medical malpractice lawyer near you!

In Dallas, Texas, a jury recently awarded $7 million to a family who filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against Westchester County Medical Center.  The family filed the lawsuit after Theresa Capwell, a mother of three children, suffered severe brain damage and died after physicians failed to diagnose conditions such as her inflamed pancreas.

The family's attorney, Judith Livingston, claims that after the medical professionals failed to diagnose Capwell, they still had several chances to prevent her death.  Livingston alleges that Capwell went to the hospital and was admitted with distinguishable symptoms that would be indicative of pancreatitis.  However, doctors overlooked the symptoms and started to look for cancer for a time period of 2 weeks.  Capwell continued to grow weak and was placed on a breathing machine, which caused a buildup of air in her lungs, and prevented her lungs from functioning normally.  Eventually, the breathing machine prevented Capwell from receiving sufgficient oxygen as her lungs could not expand or contract correctly.  

Several doctors attending to Capwell had requested that she receive a chest tube to aid her breathing, but the requests were never fulfilled.  Due to the lack of treatment, Capwell went into cardiac arrest.  During that time, her brain was without oxygen for 12 minutes, which led to her incurring serious brain damage.  A year after the incident, Capwell died after living in a comatose-like state.

A jury returned a verdict against Westchester County Medical Center to the Supreme Court Justice presiding over the case, Nicholas Colabella, after they deliberated for 24 hours and went through a 3 week medical malpractice trial.  The jury awarded $3 million to Capwell's 3 daughters and awarded $4 million to her husband.

Westchester County Medical Center informed the public that they plan to appeal the $7 million verdict and that they will file a motion in the near future.

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Recently, a Jasper County jury awarded a slip-and-fall injury victim a $550,000 verdict after he filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against Freeman Health System and the two physicians who provided him with medical treatment.

The trial lasted 4 days and ultimately, the jurors concluded that 54 year old John R. Brooks was entitled to $250,000 in past noneconomic damages, $25,000 in future economic damages and $275,000 in future noneconomic damages for the alleged medical negligence of Dr. Marzetta Parks of Freeman OccuMed in Neosho and Dr. Jason Blasenak of Freeman Neosho Hospital.

Brooks was injured on March 27, 2006 while working as a sterilizer at the Milnot Co. condensed milk products plan in Senneca, Missouri when he slipped and fell in the workplace.  When he fell, the upper left side of his torso hit the floor, which caused fractures to his ribs.  The fractures went undetected and led to extensive bleeding in the cavity of his chest over the course of several days.

Initially, after being injured, Brooks went to the emergency room and was then sent to Parks at Freeman OccuMed.  However, Brook's attorney claimed that Parks misdiagnosed his client's rib fractures because she failed to order a computerized tomography scan.  She sent him back home with a few restrictions and did not give Brooks proper treatment.   Due to the doctor's negligence, Brooks' hemothorax continued to develop in his chest, which led to severe breathing problems. 

Brooks went back to Parks for a follow-up visit on April 3, 2006.  During that visit, the rib fractures and internal bleeding were discovered.  However, the pleural effusion in Brooks' chest had already rapidly progressed.  Still, he was sent back home without a CT scan.

The plaintiff alleges that Parks failed to investigate the cause of his pain and also failed to refer him to a specialist.  As a consequence, he developed more serious conditions, suffered unnecessary pain, incurred permanent damage to his lungs and developed continual shortness of breath.  The physical damages led to him having to step down from his position with his employer.

Both physicians and Freeman Health System claim that they did nothing wrong when treating Brooks.  Yet, the jury felt differently, and awarded Brooks $550,000 for his injuries, pain and suffering and lost income.

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According to a 2007 statistic released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a staggering 115 million people receive treatment in emergency rooms in America each year.  And, 225,000 of the 115 million receiving treatment die from medical malpractice (Journal of the American Medical Association).  Aside from medical malpractice, approximately half of the fatalities can be attributed to emergency room errors.  

The reports indicate that malpractice and errors occur because emergency rooms are so hectic and busy.  Additionally, medical staff working in emergency rooms nationwide have to work long hours, which can open the door for lethal errors.  Medical malpractice in emergency rooms commonly results from:

- incorrect diagnosis/misdiagnosis
- lack of diagnosis/treatment
- delay of necessary treatment due to emergency room overpopulation
- prescription/medication errors
- diagnostic test omissions
- failure to seek medical advice from specialists

According to a study released by Health Grades, Inc., approximate 20-40% of patients in emergency rooms are misdiagnosed by the health professionals treating them.  If the mistakes made by medical professionals are serious enough, the patient can suffer long-term harm, or even wrongful death.

If you or a loved one has suffered from medical malpractice in an emergency room, click here to find a skilled medical malpractice lawyer!

A woman was awarded $16 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit against Latter Day Saints (LDS) Hospital in Salt Lake City after contracting flesh-eating bacteria that lead to the amputation of three of her limbs.

Lisa Speckman lost her legs, right arm, and finger after contracting necrotizing fasciitis, a flesh-eating bacterial infection. Speckman claims she contracted the infection while receiving post-natal care at the hospital after giving birth to her baby in 2005. Her reproductive organs, gall bladder, and most of her large intestine were also removed.

According to the lawsuit, Speckman is claiming the hospital doctors' negligent care lead to the debilitating infection.  Speckman said the hospital staff failed to diagnose and treat indications of the infection before her daughter was born. She also claims the hospital staff did not properly diagnose or treat a new infection that produced the flesh-eating condition following a Caesarean section.

Speckman and her attorneys sought damages and financial compensation to cover a lifetime of care. Speckman will need life-long treatment to care for her permanent and disabling injuries due to the medical malpractice incident.

Attorneys for LDS Hospital, Intermountain Health Care, and the doctors and nurses involved in the lawsuit deny any wrongdoing.

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Dr. James S. Snow of Liberty Regional Medical Center in Hinesville, Georgia has been fined by the state medical board for a case involving a 40-year-old woman who died in his care while awaiting discharge.

According to the Composite State Board of Medical Examiners, the patient, identified only as E.T., came to the emergency room at Liberty Regional Medical Center on January 10, 2004 with complaints of chest pains that she described as, "an elephant sitting on my chest." Snow ordered standard lab work, a chest X-ray, and an EKG. According to reports, the patient appeared to be getting better when she suddenly experienced "ventricular fibrillation" and died. Attempts were made to resuscitate her but were unsuccessful.

A peer reviewer appointed by the medical board to assess how Snow handled E.T.'s case concluded that Snow's actions failed to conform to minimum accepted standard of care in regards to both diagnosis and treatment.  

Snow signed a public consent order and agreed to pay $5,000 and complete 15 hours of continuing medical education. In addition, Snow will also pay $400 to the medical board as reimbursement for administrative fees.

Snow's profile on the medical board's website shows that Snow was also ordered to pay $750,000 in a medical malpractice settlement in May 2007. However, according to the medical board this settlement may occur for a number of reasons and does not automatically mean that Snow acted negligently or incompetently as a physician. Snow's most current consent order will also appear on his physician profile.

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A jury awarded an Indiana couple $8.1 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Eric and Renee Flora of New Carlisle, Indiana filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against podiatrist Dr. W. Douglas Kolmodin for failing to diagnose cancer in Renee Flora.

In early 2004, Renee Flora went to Dr. Kolmodin's office to have a growth removed from her big toe and tested for cancer. Flora believed herself to be in good health until the growth resurfaced a year later and she consequently was diagnosed with malignant melanoma. Now in stage three cancer, Flora has only a 17% chance of living longer than 12 years, according to her attorney Rob Gonderman.

Both in court and in sworn affidavits, the Floras testified that they saw Dr. Kolmodin's place the lesion into a container to be sent out for testing. But that was the last day Dr. Kolmodin practiced in that office, as he was in the process of moving his office to a new location. Gonderman said it was during the moving process that Flora's specimen was lost.

According to court records, Dr. Kolmodin denies that the specimen was lost. He said the specimen had disintegrated upon removal from its container and that there was nothing left to test.

But the three podiatrists who reviewed the case for the Indiana Department of Insurance agreed that there should have been enough tissue to conduct a test, Gonderman said.

Upon conclusion of the five-day trial, the St. Joseph Superior Court jury found Dr. Kolmodin liable for medical malpractice after coming to the conclusion that Flora's odds at overcoming the cancer were significantly reduced because he failed to test the tissue for cancer.

Although the Floras declined to comment on the verdict, Gonderman said he was pleased with the verdict.

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Just in on Injuryboard.com - A West Virginia man filed a lawsuit against his family physician after he claimed that he became disabled as a result of her faulty diagnosis.

The man, Gary Jones, filed the lawsuit on July 23rd against Dr. Sandra Brannin.  Dr. Brannin is a physician in Kanawha County and her husband, a physical therapist named Richard Brannin, was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. 

In Novemeber, Mr. Jones began to complain of neck pain and tingling in his shoulder.  He also experienced weakness along his left side.  He went to see Dr. Brannin twice in November to discuss his symptoms.

Mr. Jones claimed that Dr. Brannin misdiagnosed him with a torn rotator cuff, that he was improperly treated, and that he was then referred to Dr. Brannin's husband.

After receiving treatment, Gary Jones said that he experienced permanent tremors in his left arm which led him to become disabled and unable to work.  He claims serious, debilitating symptoms developed after he saw Dr. Brannin's husband.

Mr. Jones is seeking both punitive and compensatory damages for his injuries.

If you have been misdiagnosed, click here to find a medical malpractice lawyer in your area!