A Tennessee jury awarded a 33 year old woman $12 million dollars yesterday in what is being reported as one of the states largest ever jury awards. The jury returned the verdict against a local gastroenterologist who left the girl brain damaged after a procedure that was meant to diagnose…
Articles Posted in Failure to Diagnose
Swine Flu: One Hundred Already Dead, More Expected
More than 100 people have already died from the swine flu in Mexico, major news sources are reporting. The swine flu is an influenza virus that normally infects pigs. This swine flu outbreak is alarming because it appears the virus has crossed species and is infecting humans as well. It…
Abdominal Malrotation Is Commonly Misdiagnosed
The Chicago Sun-Times reported today in its health column about a frequently misdiagnosed medical problem in newborns called malrotation. Malrotation is an abnormal alignment of the bowels which can cut off blood flow to the baby’s intestines. Malrotation occurs in 1 in 500 births, and most cases are diagnosed within…
Medical Mistakes: How The UK Is Taking Steps Toward Transparency
Sadly, medical mistakes continue to be one of the leading causes of death in the United States. There are close to 100,000 preventable deaths a year in America making medical errors the fifth leading cause of death in our country. A culture of shame and a lack of accountability often times…
California Medical Malpractice Settlement Illustrates Arbitrary Nature Of Caps On Damages
Five medical malpractice cases pending in California settled this week for a sum of $1 million. The settlements arise out of improper patient care that occured at a Northern California kidney transplant center that has been at the center of a controversy revolving around a poor record of patient care.…
Damages Extended By The Illinois Appellate Court In Wrongful Birth Lawsuits
The Illinois Appellate Court, First District has extended damages in Wrongful Birth lawsuits to include the damages the victim will sustain after reaching the age of majority. This is a significant extension beyond the victim’s usual rights in these types of cases which were first recognized in Illinois in Siemieniec v. Lutheran…
Medical Malpractice Settlement Marathon
The Nevada Supreme Court has ordered litigants in medical malpractice cases to take steps to resolve those matters in order to decrease the court’s backlog. Two senior judges have been assigned in Clark County to conduct a settlement marathon in May in the hopes of resolving the 216 oldest cases…
University Of Chicago Hospital Violated Federal Law Regarding Patient Care In The Emergency Room
Alex Parker of the Chi-Town Daily News is reporting that according to the Illinois Department of Public Health, the University of Chicago Medical Center is guilty of violating a federal law by not giving an elderly patient who later died adequate medical treatment. The University of Chicago’s own internal investigation…
20 Tips To Help Prevent Medical Mistakes
The United States Department of Health And Human Services has offered the public some advice on how to protect themselves against unintended medical errors. According to the Department of Health and Human Services medical errors are one of the nations leading causes of death. Here are 20 tips to help…
Prevenatable Medical Mistakes Can Be Deadly 100,000 Times A Year
The National Academy of Science is reporting that close to 100,000 people who die each year are the victim of preventable medical mistakes. A medical mistake can mean a doctor chose the wrong type of care in response to a medical problem or provided the correct type of care but carried it out incorrectly.…