Entries Tagged 'Medical Malpractice' ↓

Back in 2001, sixteen-year old Evan Perez underwent surgery at Staten Island University Hospital to have a tumor removed from one of his ribs by pediatric surgeon Brian Gilchrist and Perez was assured that the growth was non-cancerous. Not only did it turn out that the growth was cancerous, but Gilchrist failed to remove all of it and the remaining tumor spread to three of Perez’ other ribs. Perez had to undergo additional surgery nine months later at a different hospital to have the new growth removed.

Perez, who has stated he has “scars all over my body,” later filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against both Dr. Gilchrist and SIUH in part due to the cancer misdiagnosis. A settlement was agreed to with the help of Justice Joseph J. Maltese in which Gilchrist’s insurer would pay Perez $1.75 million with the hospital paying an additional $150,000.

Though his legal trouble may be over lawyers for Perez have noted that while their client is feeling better, and is continuing to undergo radiation treatment, his medical prognosis remains unclear. Staten Island University Hospital has wished Perez the very best through their spokesperson, but Gilchrist has yet to make any public statements.

A couple in St Louis Missouri were awarded a total of $2.58 million by a jury on July 30th from a medical malpractice lawsuit stemming from a Methicillin Resistant Staph Aureus (MRSA) infection that James Klotz received after having a pacemaker installed back in 2004 by Dr. Michael Shapiro at St. Anthony’s Medical Center.

Klotz, who had a heart attack on March 17, 2004, had an IV inserted by paramedics who responded to the emergency. Shapiro inserted a temporary pacemaker on March 20th and a permanent one the next day. Klotz was diagnoses with MRSA in April, and led to doctors removing the pacemaker as well as golf ball sized masses of infection. The plaintiff’s claim is that the MRSA infection was due to Shapiro installing the pacemaker even though there was redness on his wrist from the IV, and that the installation became the conduit for the spread of the infection. The defense argued that the infection could have come from anywhere, and that Shapiro was not negligent in his actions.

The infection led to Klotz losing a kidney, the amputation of his right leg and part of his left foot, and the loss of some hearing. The jury found that Shapiro was 67% responsible for St. Anthony’s Medical Center 33% responsible for the infection and injuries, and awarded him $2,067,000 in damages. The jury awarded an additional $513,000 to Klotz’s wife, Mary, who had to quit her job in order to care for him.

Defense attorney John T. Eckenrode expected the jury to vote in Klotz’s favor, who came to their decision after seven hours of deliberation. Eckenrode now plans to appeal the decision.

After a two-week trial in Niagara County NY, a jury awarded $9 million dollars in damages to the survivors of Suzanne E. Crane in a medical malpractice lawsuit. The suit claims that Dr. Nancy J. Stubbe did not diagnose Crane’s breast cancer, who died in 2004 at the age of 33 after cancer had spread to 15 of her 16 lymph nodes, when Crane began seeing the doctor in 2002. It was not until 2003 when she visited another doctor that she was diagnosed with cancer. Attorney John B. Licata, who represented the Crane family, noted that Stubbe never performed a biopsy, even after a lump was found in Crane’s breast.

The State Supreme Court jury found on June 30^th that Stubbe, who has been a doctor for more than 40 years and awarded accolades for her services, was negligent in her treating Crane and that her negligence was a substantial factor in her death. The $9 million dollar award, which includes $6 million based on future monetary losses, is noted as being one of the largest civil lawsuit payouts in Niagara County history.

However, there is some controversy surrounding the verdict due to the jury, which was made up of six women included two nurses. Professor Charles P. Ewing of the University at Buffalo Law School commented its “amazing that both sides would allow two nurses on a jury in a case like that” while even Licata mentioned “I don’t know if a jury of six men would have paid as close attention as this jury did.”

The verdict may be appealed, but calls to Stubbe’s attorney John T. Loss by the Buffalo City News looking for comment, were not returned.

After a two-week trial in Cuyahoga County, OH in which Elizabeth Elia brought suit against the Cleveland Clinic for negligence by the facility which resulted in the permanent brain damage of her son, the jury agreed to a total settlement payment of $15.9 million. This includes the original $10 million that Elia sought for compensation of her son’s injuries, as well as the court approved request of $4 million in legal fees and $430,000 in legal and medical expenses filed by the plaintiff’s lawyers. Lawyers for both the plaintiffs and defendants agreed to settle the case on May 1st before the verdict forms were officially signed, however the papers were accidentally placed on public file rather than becoming sealed. If the verdict had been made official by the jury, it would have been one of the largest payouts out ever in Cuyahoga County.

The Baltimore medical malpractice lawyers of Snyder Weltchek & Snyder won a verdict of $1.75 million for the family of a woman who died of a pulmonary embolism after undergoing bladder suspension surgery at St. Joseph Medical Center. The nurses failed to give her blood thinners or put compression stockings on her legs to reduce the risk of clotting. Those stockings are one of the best ways to prevent blood clots. The nurses also failed to have her up and walking around after surgery, as the doctors had instructed. The patient died four days after surgery when a blood clot broke off and traveled to her lungs. After a six day trial the jury awarded $500,000 to the estate, $500,000 to her husband, and $250,000 to each of their three adult children.

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The Law Offices of Snyder Weltchek & Snyder obtained a $1.05 million verdict in a medical malpractice case. Two emergency room doctors at Union Memorial Hospital failed to diagnose a blood clot in the lungs of Christian. Christian had surgery on his bowel days before pain sent him back to the emergency room. The doctors told him it was pneumonia when he visited the emergency room. Christian died two weeks later. The lawyers of Snyder Weltchek & Snyder believed that the doctor’s negligence was the cause of the death and autopsy reports showed Christian had a blood clot that should have been diagnosed by the doctors, because blood clots are a common condition after surgery. After two weeks of testimony, a Baltimore Circuit Court jury ruled that the doctor’s committed medical malpractice that led to death and must pay $1,050,000 in damages to the Christian’s Family.

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Jason Bynum, a South Carolina prison inmate, was afflicted with an untreated mouth infection in 2002. His condition went untreated so long that it turned into Ludwig’s Angina - a severe mouth abscess which can cause death by suffocation. Bynum’s condition, however, was not unknown by prison physicians. Nurses who treated him knew of the severity of the painful condition, but his condition was mostly ignored by prison officials and doctors for four years.

In 2006, the Bell Legal Group worked hard to get justice for Jason Bynum. The firm’s excellent civil rights litigation won Bynum’s case against the Turbeville Correctional Center in Turbeville, South Carolina. The court forced the correctional facility to pay punitive damages of $825,000.

www.police-misconduct-lawyer.com/