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At one time or another, we all are in need of medical care and treatment. As patients we should expect that the physicians and hospitals in whom we place our faith and trust will render care that is in keeping with the accepted standards of the medical community. Failure to do so can result in catastrophic injuries. If you believe that this has happened to you, one of your family members or close friends, please give us a call. We have medical experts who are willing to review and evaluate the medical records in order to determine if the doctor, nurse or hospital has provided proper care.
Inexperienced residents delay birth of baby, causing permanent brain damage
A young woman was admitted to a teaching hospital to give birth to her first child. Her entire labor was monitored by residents in training since the senior doctor, according to his own testimony, only attended to his "private, paying" patients. The labor was allowed to continue too long and the child needed to be extracted by forceps. The forceps injured the baby's head, leaving a bruise on his face. Within hours he began to have seizures and a CAT scan revealed a brain bleed in the same location as the bruise. He was ultimately diagnosed with developmental delays and autism (Pervasive Developmental Disorder). A medical expert from Sweden who had conducted research in the relationship between anoxia (the lack of oxygen to the brain) and autism was located. This expert was prepared to fly in to testify. A settlement of $1.8 million was reached shortly before trial, which will pay for custodial care and medical treatment for the rest of the child's life.
Psychiatrist's orders disobeyed resulting in patient's suicide
Our client was a professional who became depressed and suicidal. After ingesting an overdose of Tylenol she was admitted to a hospital for treatment and protection. The nurses were instructed not to leave her alone. At 6:30 am the night nurse left the room to report that the screen was missing from the window. Upon returning to the room, our client was gone. She was found on the ground just below the window of her seventh story hospital room. She had crawled through the opening in the window and jumped to her death.
The medical records revealed that the on-duty nurse had written in the records that she had checked in on our client and found her asleep in bed after she had already jumped to her death (an obvious falsification of the record).Our experts were ready to testify that the hospital staff failed to properly protect our client from her mental illness. The case was settled for $750,000.
Improper emergency room care causes child's death
After falling at home and injuring her back, the parents took their ten-year-old daughter to the emergency room of a local hospital. The child could not walk and had to be carried by her parents into the hospital. X-rays taken of her back showed no spinal damage. During her stay at the emergency room she developed a high fever. Tests were taken to rule out appendicitis but an urinalysis test showed traces of blood. Although the fever went down, the child, who was still unable to walk, was discharged and allowed to go home. Within three days the child experienced increased pain in her legs and was rushed to a different emergency room where she ultimately died. An autopsy showed that she died of sepsis (blood poisoning). Our firm retained three medical experts who were prepared to testify that, had a blood test been given during her first emergency room visit, the presence of blood poisoning would have been discovered and could easily have been treated with antibiotics thereby preventing their child's death. The case settled on the eve of trial for $725,000.
Over sedated emphysema patient dies while doctors stand idly by
A 68-year-old retired City of Philadelphia recreation director was admitted to a local city hospital for treatment of difficulty breathing as a result of emphysema. In the middle of the night, the oxygen levels in her blood dropped and she became disoriented. Without first examining her, a resident ordered the nurse to give her a sedative. Within ten minutes she went into cardiac arrest and a "code red" was called. The doctors had incorrectly recorded her advanced directive instructions and, rather than providing her cardiac resuscitation as she had requested, they stood by and watched her die. We retained experts in bioethics and pharmacology and in spite of the difficulty in proving that she would have survived had she been resuscitated, the matter settled for $200,000.
Lack of supervision at psychiatric hospital leads to patient's death
A severe mental condition necessitated our client's admission to a local psychiatric hospital. While under the care and custody of the hospital, our client ingested an overdose of medication, which caused her death. Suit was filed which alleged improper supervision of our client and the lack of security in regard to visitors. It was never established how our client got the medication which caused her death. The case was hotly contested by the defendants, not only on liability but also on the lack of damages; our client had no prior track record of earnings. There was also the suggestion that our client facilitated the acquisition of the drugs that lead to her death. In spite of these difficulties the case was ultimately settled for $185,000.
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