Articles Posted in medical malpractice

Brady v. Urbas, a case from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, involved plaintiff who suffered from long-term foot problems. Her foot issues were due to toe deformities.

Plaintiff had been going to the same podiatrist for years, and he was successfully able to perform surgical procedures to treat the problems with her left foot. At this point, he continued to treat the deformed toes on her right foot.

Plaintiff’s primary problem on her right foot was a medical condition known by doctors and patients as hammertoe. Hammertoe in her second toe caused her middle toe to rise, so it was sitting above the natural plane of the sole of her foot. This made it extremely painful when wearing shoes.
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Keys v. Alta Bates Summit Med. Ctr., an appeal from the California Court of Appeal, involved a woman who was fatally injured during a surgical procedure on her thyroid. On the morning of the injury, patient’s daughter and sister took her to the hospital early in the morning. The surgery was completed in what doctors believed to be a successful manner and transferred patient to the postoperative recovery unit.

While in recovery, a nurse observed plaintiff’s breath to be noisy at 6:45 p.m. Nurse believed this noise was caused by a stridor, which involves an obstruction to the upper airway. The nurse called a code for a rapid assessment team to come and check on patient’s condition at 6:46 p.m., and the team arrived at 6:48 p.m. This team was made up of a respiratory therapist and an intensive care unit (ICU) nurse. The team left patient’s room at 6:57 p.m.

While the respiratory code team was in patient’s room, they called her surgeon at 6:50 p.m. and informed him about her respiratory issues. Surgeon arrived at some time before 7 p.m. Once there, he attempted to reposition patient and suction her nose and mouth. He then tried to remove her bandages and sutures to relieve pressure, and she stopped breathing at 7:23 p.m.
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Branham v. Rock, a personal injury appeal from the Supreme Court of Kentucky, involved plaintiff who was injured while riding as a passenger in her husband’s truck. She was not wearing a seat belt when the truck drove off the road and hit a tree. The passenger side airbag deployed but did not prevent her from hitting the front windshield. He was briefly unconscious following the car crash.

Emergency workers arrived at the scene and took her to a local hospital where doctors ordered a head and neck CT scan. The scan was done “out of an abundance of caution” to rule out internal bleeding. She was then transported by air to another trauma center. There doctors ordered a chest x-ray, which revealed blunting to the left costophrenic angle, which could be related to “effusion or scarring” and a “3.5 cm mass-like density” in the left lower lobe. This caused concern among doctors, but she was discharged with instructions to follow-up with her primary care physician.

About 36 hours later, she died from what the autopsy revealed to be a ruptured aorta caused by blunt-force trauma to the chest. A year following her death, plaintiff filed a wrongful death action, claiming medical malpractice against the hospitals and treating physicians. The trial judge dismissed claims against hospitals on grounds of sovereign immunity, and the jury found for the defendants. Plaintiff appealed trial court’s finding of sovereign immunity and jury’s verdict claiming it was inconsistent with evidence presented at trial.
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Whaley v. Sharp, a case from the Supreme Court of the State of Kansas, involved a plaintiff who went to defendant’s emergency room for treatment. The day after being admitted, plaintiff was to be transferred to Wichita for additional treatment. She died in transit.

Plaintiff’s adult daughter was appointed personal representative of plaintiff’s estate and a submitted a claim to defendant’s attorney. Plaintiff claimed hospital was responsible for the negligent conduct of its employees and also failed to properly hire, credential, and supervise its employees. Damages were in the amount of $1.25 million according to court records.
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Gilbert v. Wessels, a case from the Supreme Court of Tennessee, involved plaintiff who underwent laser eye surgery performed by defendant ophthalmologist. After suffering a serious personal injury as a result of this surgery, plaintiff filed a medical malpractice action against defendant.

Trial court set the case for trial in July of 2012, and then later continued trial date until October of 2012. Less than a month before trial, defendant filed a motion to waive the state’s contiguous state requirement for expert witnesses, requesting that an ophthalmologist from Florida be allowed to testify on his behalf at trial.

His reason for this was only three doctors in the county, he claimed, were experts in this new type of laser eye surgery, and there was not a doctor in his state or a neighboring state who could testify about the appropriate standard of care when performing this eye surgery.
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In Hammond v. Saini, a case from the Supreme Court of North Carolina, plaintiff went to defendant’s hospital in 2010, to remove a possible basal cell carcinoma on her face. During surgery, drapes were placed on plaintiff’s face, and an anesthesiologist along with nurse anesthetists administered supplemental oxygen to plaintiff though a mask.
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In Grove v. Peacehealth St. Joseph Hospital, an appeal from the Washington Supreme Court, plaintiff underwent a six-hour heart surgery procedure by a doctor at defendant’s hospital. This surgery occurred on December 21, 2006. He remained plaintiff’s primary doctor until December 25, 2006, when he left for the holidays. At this point, a second doctor took over plaintiff’s care and remained as such until plaintiff was released from the hospital.

While plaintiff’s heart surgery was successful, his recovery did not go so well. He suffered various complications, including pneumonia and a blood infection. Doctors had to intubate plaintiff on December 23 through December 26 and had to bring in an infectious disease specialist to treat plaintiff.

By December 29, 2006, his left calf was swollen, red, and painful and he had extremely weak joints, especially in his left leg. His doctors believed he had an infection known as cellulitis, which is normally treated with antibiotics, even though plaintiff was already on antibiotics due to his earlier blood infection.
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