What is Medical Malpractice?
Medical Malpractice is, “bad, wrong, or injudicious treatment of a patient, professionally and in respect to the particular disease or injury, resulting. in injury, unnecessary suffering, or death to the patient, and proceeding from ignorance, carelessness, want of proper professional skill, disregard of established rules or principles, neglect, or a malicious or criminal intent .” (Black’s Law Dictionary 1111. 4th Ed. Rev. 1968). Like general malpractice, it refers to negligence in a professional setting. However, it is limited to healthcare providers, such as a doctor or hospital.
Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare provider deviates from the applicable standard of care, intentionally or unintentionally, and harms a patient. Cases such as Napier v. Greenzweig show that medical malpractice can be as blatant as ignoring understood rules, or it can be a mistake like a severe surgical error or a misdiagnosis. Medical malpractice is considered to be a serious issue, and healthcare providers found liable for malpractice often pay extensive damages. Occasionally, a doctor may lose their license to practice medicine if malpractice is severe enough or repeated.
Fully understanding cases of medical malpractice often involves some level of medical knowledge. Because of this, it is difficult to prove medical malpractice in court, and expert witnesses are typically needed to testify about a healthcare provider’s negligence.
More information about Medical Malpractice
Colorado Medical Malpractice Suit Against Nurses Settled
Undocumented immigrant receives $700,000 in medical malpractice suit settlement
The Colorado Springs, city-owned Memorial Health System settled a lawsuit filed by an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who claimed her baby suffered severe brain injuries during delivery four years ago. The now four-year-old is a spastic quadriplegic who cannot stand, sit or walk, and has the intellectual level of a six-month-old.
The city paid $700,000 to the child because the care provided by the Memorial nurses and the doctor “fell below the standard of care” by failing to properly interpret fetal heart monitoring strips that showed the baby in distress during labor, having the mother hold her breath which further depleted the oxygen going to the baby and delivering the baby vaginally rather than performing a cesarean section.
The lawsuit only covered the negligence by the nurses. The doctor is employed by Peak Vista Community Health Centers which is a Federally Qualified Health Center. […]
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$1.25 Million Awarded After Surgeon Was Found Negligent
Surgeon found negligent in botched procedure
A 67-year-old Ithaca, New York woman was awarded $1.25 million after her surgeon was found negligent when a 2007 gallbladder operation left her gravely ill and fighting for her life. The surgeon at Cayuga Medical Center had been practicing for over 15 years when found at fault.
The woman entered the hospital complaining of an upset stomach when she was told her gallbladder needed to be removed. The woman’s bowel was unintentionally cut during surgery, yet the surgeon did not inspect the bowel for injury prior to completing the surgical procedure.
Almost immediately the woman became severely ill, exhibiting multiple signs of infection. 32 hours after the first operation, she was operated on again to find the source of the infection, and then to repair the injured bowel. The woman also underwent four more surgeries, needed a ventilator, […]
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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. […]
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$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. […]
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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, […]
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