What is Malpractice?
Malpractice is, “Any professional misconduct, unreasonable lack of skill or fidelity in professional or fiduciary duties, evil practice, or illegal or immoral conduct.” (Black’s Law Dictionary 1111. 4th Ed. Rev. 1968). It refers to negligence or misconduct by a professional that eventually leads to a client or patient being injured or damaged.
Malpractice is commonly referenced in the medical sense. However, malpractice exists in other professions such as accounting and law. Medical malpractice may involve a doctor giving the wrong diagnosis or botching a surgery, resulting in direct harm. Legal malpractice could involve a lawyer mishandling a case due to incompetence or neglect, resulting in their client losing out on financial gains or wrongfully spending time in prison.
Malpractice cases are usually resolved with legal proceedings where the plaintiff seeks monetary compensation from the accused professional. They depend on the proof that the plaintiff was not only harmed, but that the malpractice by the professional was the direct cause. This process is meant to hold professionals accountable for their actions, and protect innocent individuals from the consequences of negligence and misconduct. In cases where professionals are found to commit malpractice, such as Gregory v. McInnis et al, they are often restricted from practicing in that specific field again.
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$1.6 Million Awarded In College Basketball Player’s Death
According to the Associated Press, a jury has awarded parents $1.6 million in their medical malpractice lawsuit filed following their son’s death on an Eastern Connecticut State University basketball court.
The 22-year-old senior collapsed during a basketball game in 2005. The parents alleged the doctor who examined him in 2001 should have found the congenital heart defect known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The doctor found him to be in excellent health and signed his college medical form.
The doctor scheduled an echocardiogram for the young man after the examination, but he did not show up for the test.
Our attorneys at Munley Law are experienced in medical malpractice lawsuits and will evaluate your case thoroughly and explore all potential sources of recovery – we fight to protect the rights of patients. If you or a loved one has been harmed by medical negligence, […]
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Patients Undergo Risky, Unnecessary Medical Procedure
The Baltimore Sun reports hundreds of heart patients from St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson, Maryland may have undergone an unnecessary medical procedure. St. Joseph Medical Center calls itself the busiest heart catheterization center in Maryland, and is thought of as one of the primary cardiac care facilities in the area.
At least 369 patients have received letters informing them they may have received expensive and potentially dangerous coronary stents they did not need. At the time of their surgery the patients were told they needed the stent to open an artery which had severe blockage. They have since learned their blockage was only minor.
Dr. Mark Midei is the only doctor implicated in the hospital investigation so far. He allegedly told patients they had up to a 90 percent blockage, when in fact they had only a 10 percent blockage. In other patients, he placed two stents when only one was necessary. […]
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Jury Awards $15M After Medical Errors Caused Boy’s Death
A Suffolk County jury has found two doctors at Children’s Hospital Boston caused the death of a 3-year-old boy and must pay his parents $15 million, reports the Boston Globe. This is an unusual amount for a medical malpractice case involving death — settlements this large are more usual for severely injured patients requiring years of expensive treatment.
The Pennsylvania boy was born with Tetralogy of Fallot, a complex but treatable birth defect which affects the flow of blood through the heart. After several surgeries to try to widen the arteries carrying blood to his heart, the young boy was referred to another doctor who performed a catheterization. Within hours of this surgery the boy suffered a seizure found to be caused by contrast dye used in the surgery leaking into his brain.
During an MRI a tiny piece of metal — probably from a medical instrument — […]
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Boy’s Parents Awarded $22.3M In Medical Negligence Suit
The Chicago Sun-Times reports a Cook County jury has awarded the parents of a 10-year-old boy $22.3 million in a medical negligence case that resulted in the loss of the boy’s leg shortly after his birth.
The young boy was born in May 1999 with a congenital heart defect which required a shunt procedure performed at Advocate Christ Medical Center/Hope Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn, Illinois. Two weeks after being sent home, the parents returned the infant to the emergency room.
The lawsuit alleged his left leg had to be amputated due to mistakes made in the operating room. The child also suffers from cognitive deficiencies and developmental delays alleged to be caused by the delayed treatment and cardiac catheterization.
The jury found the hospital and staff were negligent in failing to diagnose the infant’s shunt problems in time and subjecting him to an unnecessary catheterization. […]
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$4.34 Million Awarded To Veteran Paralyzed After Spinal Surgery
A 66-year-old veteran who alleged he was left paralyzed from spinal surgery at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in West Los Angeles has been awarded $4.34 million by a federal judge, according to Courthouse News Service.
In October 2005, Alvin Johnson had spinal surgery to correct a ruptured disc at the VA medical center, according to the article. Doctors injected Surgifoam, a material which absorbs blood and other fluids, into the space created once the ruptured disc was removed.
According to the complaint, the doctors did not remove all the excess foam and it expanded, pressing against the spinal cord. When the veteran’s daughter was notified two and a half hours later, Mr. Johnson had no feeling from his neck down and was nearly completely paralyzed.
An MRI showing the spinal cord was compressed was ordered by another doctor, but Mr. […]
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Alleged Hospital Error Using Fentanyl Patch Fatal To Autistic Teen
Autistic teen dies from accidental drug overdose in medical malpractice case
A wrongful death lawsuit alleges a 15-year-old Autistic boy died in March when he was given a Fentanyl patch to alleviate his pain from a routine tooth extraction, reports Seattlepi.com.
Seattle Children’s Hospital sent Michael home with his mother on March 9, following the extraction, with the fentanyl patch for pain, according to a civil suit filed earlier this month in Washington’s King County Superior Court. Family members found him unresponsive the next morning and paramedics were unable to revive him – he was pronounced dead at his home.
The medical examiner report states the boy died from a drug overdose caused by the fentanyl patch, which is usually used for patients with chronic pain such as cancer patients, the newspaper reports.
Children’s Medical Director has admitted the hospital staff erred when if prescribed the fentanyl to Michael, […]
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$10 Million Awarded to Amputee in Houston Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
Man has leg, fingers, and toes unnecessarily amputated due to botched procedure
According to the Houston Chronicle, a Harris County jury has awarded a Houston man $10 million in a lawsuit filed against Methodist Hospital and the doctors who treated him there.
In 2002, the man underwent heart surgery for an improperly functioning valve. After the surgery, he developed gangrene and had to have multiple amputations, including his left leg above the knee, his fingers and the toes on his right foot.
The lawsuit alleged Methodist Hospital failed to monitor the patient properly for blood disorders after they administered the drug Heparin. Heparin is a widely used blood thinner that is known to have side effects including immunological reactions that cause excess bleeding. This, alleged the plaintiff, resulted in the development of gangrene.
If you or a loved one in Pennsylvania has been harmed by a medical mistake, […]
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Woman Settles Flesh-Eating-Bacteria Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
The Orlando Sentinel reports a woman who ended up having both arms and legs amputated, allegedly due to a flesh-eating-bacteria, has settled her lawsuit against the hospital for an undisclosed amount.
After delivering a son at the Orlando Regional Healthcare System, Inc. (now called Orlando Health) in 2005, the woman developed a rash, fever, chills and other symptoms. The next day, even though she was in extreme pain the hospital tried to discharge her, according to her lawsuit, but her husband refused to take her home, and the following day surgery revealed she had gangrene in her belly.
Her condition grew worse and it was determined her body was being ravaged by Group A Streptococcal infection – a flesh eating bacteria. In hopes of saving her life, health care personnel amputated all four of her limbs. She is now confined to a motorized wheelchair.
Medical negligence is the result of a health care provider’s failure to provide the expected standard of care. […]
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Neurosurgeons Sued For Alleged Malpractice On Child’s Surgery
The parents of 5-year-old Katie have sued North Shore University Hospital and their star neurosurgeons for a spine operation that left the child unable to touch her toes, walk upstairs, and in constant pain.
The parents allege the surgery was unnecessary, reports the NY Daily News.
Before the surgery, which the surgeons claimed would help alleviate a rare brain defect known as Chiari Malformation, Katie was happy and active, riding her two wheeler and playing soccer, the parents alleged.
Katie’s parents are among at least four other families suing Doctors Thomas Milhorat and Paolo Bolognese for alleged unnecessary surgeries that inflicted further harm to the patients, according to the newspaper.
If you or a loved one has been harmed by a form of medical negligence, you may have a medical malpractice claim. Our attorneys at Munley Law are experienced and successful medical malpractice litigators and we fight to protect the rights of patients. […]
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Dakota Urology Clinic Sued for $5 Million in Medical Malpractice
Five plaintiffs are asking for $5 million in damages from the Siouxland Urology Center in Dakota Dunes, SD. claiming negligence, medical malpractice, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
In the 22 page class-action lawsuit the patients claim Siouxland Urology breached the standard of care by re-using certain disposable medical equipment which caused damages to the patients. Manufacturers recommend the equipment used in cystoscopy procedures be used only once. Siouxland Urology denies any unsterilized equipment ever came into direct contact with patients.
South Dakota Department of Health has ordered the Center to change its cystoscopy practices and the Center is offering a free blood test to check for HIV and Hepatitis for the 5,200 affected patients.
If you or a loved one has been harmed by a form of medical negligence, you may have a medical malpractice claim. Our attorneys at Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys are experienced and successful medical malpractice litigators and we fight to protect the rights of patients. […]
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$3 million Settlement Reached in SC Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
Misread CT scan causes death of young girl
A 29-year-old mother of three has reached a settlement agreement with six doctors at the Chester Regional Medical Center in South Carolina for medical negligence which caused her daughter’s death in 2005.
According to the lawsuit, the young woman sought medical help at the emergency room on three occasions for severe abdominal pain. The CT scan was misread the first two times. On her third trip to the emergency room, the doctors and surgeons found she suffered from a twisted bowel and performed surgery. They found her intestine was dead because the blood supply had been cut off. She died the night of her operation from her untreated medical condition.
The lawsuit alleges if the CT scan had been read correctly the first time at the emergency room, the condition could have been corrected and the young woman’s life would have been saved. […]
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Top 10 Tips To Get Out Of The Hospital Alive
As reported in the Citizen’s Voice preventable medical errors are a leading cause of death in America. According to the Institute of Medicine, up to 98,000 patients a year die in U.S. hospitals due to preventable errors. Last year, Pennsylvania hospitals reported more than 200,000 patient safety incidents, more than 7,000 of which resulted in serious injury or death, according to the state’s Patient Safety Authority.While doctors and hospitals across the country pursue various ways to treat the epidemic of medical errors, many experts believe the best prescription is vigilance by patients and their families. In observance of National Patient Safety Day, which is today, we have compiled a list of the “Top 10 Tips to Get Out of the Hospital Alive.”
1. Educate yourself. Although the malpractice records of individual health-care providers are often kept secret, you can check out doctors and hospitals through the Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine; […]
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HIPAA- A Barrier Between You & Your Medical Records?
Back in 1996, when the Health Insurance and Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was signed into law, the intention of the law (especially Title IV) was to protect a patient’s right to privacy, reduce fraudulent activity, streamline data systems and improve the health insurance system overall.
For years prior to the law’s passage, there was no federal standard for obtaining your medical records. Without the patient’s knowledge, records were being given to insurance companies, sent to landfills or just flat-out lost. Alerted by highly publicized lapses in medical record confidentiality (a garbage truck crash that sent medical records flying all over the highways, a doctor selling a computer without deleting patient information from the hard drive, and the list went on and on), lawmakers decided a better system was needed. So the whole theory behind HIPAA regs are that your medical records are just that, yours, […]
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