Widow Awarded $6.7 Million in Medical Malpractice Case

The widow of a man who died in 2005 after an ATV accident was awarded $6.7 million by a Maine jury in a medical malpractice case against Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.  The man was flown to the center after the accident, and according to the lawsuit, the doctors failed to follow up on tests indicating internal bleeding, that ultimately led to the man’s death.

The man arrived at the hospital suffering from several broken ribs, among other injuries, and CT scans ordered by the emergency department physician indicated there was also internal bleeding. The doctors caring for the man failed to follow up on the internal bleeding by not issuing an order for X-rays to monitor the bleeding, according to the suit. Three days later, the internal bleeding caused one of the man’s lungs to collapse, and the lack of oxygen precipitated a massive fatal heart attack. […]

$322 Million Awarded To Man Over Asbestos Exposure

Negligent companies were aware of the cancer-causing nature of their asbestos product

In what is believed to be the largest award in a single plaintiff‘s asbestos case, a jury has awarded $322 million to a 48-year-old man who is suffering from asbestosis and has to be on oxygen 24 hours a day.

The jury awarded $300 million in punitive damages and $22 million in actual damages and found the defendants were liable for defectively designing their product and failing to provide an adequate warning to workers.

The lawsuit, filed against Chevron Phillips Chemical Company and Union Carbide Corp., states the man worked in the oil field from the age of 16 in 1979 to the mid-1980s and mixed an asbestos drilling additive. It was during this time, the lawsuit claims, he inhaled the harmful substance.

The drilling mud was manufactured by Union Carbide and sold by Chevron Phillips. […]

$400,000 Awarded In Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Lawsuit

A Northampton woman has been awarded $400,000 in her malpractice suit against a Bethlehem doctor who did not diagnose her breast cancer properly. The jury found Dr. Mark Schadt negligent in his care of the woman.

In April 2004 she found two lumps in her breasts, and in May Dr. Schadt performed a fine-needle aspiration biopsy and the results were negative for breast cancer.  In March 2005 the patient had a second fine-needle biopsy and the results were positive. A month later, after having an excisional biopsy, she was told she had invasive carcinoma stage III cancer.  She had a radical mastectomy on the cancerous right breast and a simple mastectomy on her left breast.

The lawsuit alleged Dr. Shadt should have followed the first biopsy with a complete biopsy that would have removed a larger tissue sample to test.

If you or a loved one has been harmed by a form of medical negligence, […]

$2.5 Million Awarded for Failure to Diagnose Colon Cancer

A Virgo County, Indiana jury has awarded $2.5 million to a now 42-year-old former police officer whose doctor failed to diagnose his colon cancer in 2004.  The Tribune Star reports the lawsuit was filed against Dr. John Morse of AP&S Clinic in Terre Haute, Indiana in January 2009.

At 35 years old, the man went to the doctor with rectal bleeding and complaints of other gastric discomforts. Neither a sigmoidoscopy nor colonoscopy was done to rule out colon cancer.  An upper G.I. test was done because of other problems the patient reported. After moving to another state and consulting a different doctor in 2006, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 incurable colon cancer.  He has been given less than a year to live.

Under Indiana’s statutory limit, the award will be reduced to $1.25 million.

Our experienced lawyers know that medical errors are responsible for between 44,000 and 98,000 wrongful deaths every year in American hospitals.  […]

Family Awarded $19.2 Million in Medical Malpractice Case

A three-and-a-half-year-old girl is blind and has cerebral palsy after she was given 100 times the dose of nutrients 15 days after she was born in 2007, claimed the lawsuit filed in Lee County by her parents.  The family has been awarded $19.2 million in the medical malpractice case that could be the first of its kind for Lee County, reports station 2RSWFlorida.

The little girl was born prematurely at HealthPark Medical Center.  The lawsuit was brought against Lee Memorial Health Systems because the overdose led to cardiac arrest and severe complications.  She will be in diapers and will have to be carried and fed the rest of her life.

Liability caps could limit the award to $200,000, but the hospital has never paid a claims bill through the court and the family is hoping this will be the first.

Our attorneys at Munley, […]