Posts Tagged ‘ patient deaths ’

During a routine colonoscopy in 2008, a non-cancerous polyp was found inside the colon of a Bucks County, Pa., woman.

But instead of removing the polyp through a minimally-invasive colonoscopy or an endoscopic procedure, her doctor performed a colon re-section, removing 2.5 feet of her colon and then surgically putting the remainder back together, according to a recent story in The Legal Intelligencer.

The problem, though, occurred when the more-invasive surgical re-section failed and leaked her fecal matter into her bloodstream and body, leading to a septic infection that kept the woman in the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania for 305 days, the story said.

Eleven days after her failed first surgery, Mariann Pomroy required a second surgery and was fitted with a colostomy bag. But her medical problems still were far from over.

Image credit: © iStockphoto.com/djgunner

“When Pomroy was finally released home, she was confined to a hospital bed, dependent upon oxygen and needed kidney dialysis,” reported The Legal Intelligencer. Three hundred and sixty-four days later, on Aug. 12, 2010, Pomroy died, the victim of a medical malpractice tragedy.

It wasn’t supposed to be that way.

The procedure was supposed to be a routine removal of a non-cancerous, abnormal growth of tissue.

Instead, Pomroy, who had undergone four previous abdominal surgeries, suffered severe complications that contributed to her eventual death. She was 57 when she died.

The two sides disagreed in court about how a decision was reached regarding the procedure she would eventually undergo.

Her surgeon, Dr. Ernest F. Rosato, “said that he recommended a colonoscopy to Pomroy but she opted for the surgery out of fear of having perforations,” according to the story. ” However, Pomroy’s husband [George], who attended the appointment with her, said that the advice was for Pomroy to have a colon resection, and he brought up if there was an easier way to remove the polyp.”

After her death, Pomroy’s family sued the doctor and the hospital, alleging serious medical errors were made in providing her care.

On Feb. 26, a Philadelphia jury awarded her family $19.5 million in damages by an 11-1 verdict, reported The Legal Intelligencer. The verdict included $10.5 million in wrongful death damages and $9 million in survival damages.

This tragic case is a somber reminder of the kinds of problems that can arise when patients seek medical treatment in hospitals and other medical facilities and become innocent victims of overzealous, inadequate or incorrect procedures.

Patients and their families must be vigilant about the medical care they receive so they know what is being done for a patient’s care every step of the way. But at the same time, patients and families aren’t doctors and they can’t know every question to ask.

That’s where skilled, expert, compassionate and thorough legal representation is needed by patients and their families who have been harmed by medical errors or omissions during their treatment. These kinds of cases happen on a regular basis, but they can be fought by legal teams that are prepared to battle for their clients’ rights all along the way to a fair settlement or to a just verdict.

We here at MyPhillyLawyer stand ready to assist you with your legal case if you or a loved one is ever seriously injured in a medical malpractice or related case anywhere in the United States. We represent the families of victims who die in such tragedies as well, to ensure that their families receive every penny of damages that they are eligible to receive.

Call MyPhillyLawyer at 215-227-2727 or toll-free at 1-866-920-0352 anytime and our experienced, compassionate, aggressive team of attorneys and support staff will be there for you and your family every step of the way as we manage your case through the legal system.

When Winning Matters Most, Call MyPhillyLawyer.

It was to be a routine tonsillectomy, just like most of the more than half-million such procedures done each year in the United States.

But something went very wrong following 17-year-old Mariah Edwards’ surgery on March 20, 2012 at the Abington Surgery Center in Montgomery County, according to a recent story in The Legal Intelligencer.

The teen was apparently left unmonitored in a recovery room following her tonsillectomy, and she went into respiratory distress which was not immediately noticed by the medical staff, the report stated.

Tragically, Mariah Edwards died 15 days after the surgical procedure.

“The case highlighted that there may be more risk for surgical patients in the recovery room than there is during the surgery itself,” her family’s attorney told The Legal Intelligencer.

A surgical team is in the midst of a medical procedure in this stock photo. Image credit: © iStockphoto.com/uchar

The teen was given a pain medication after the procedure which depressed her respiratory system, according to the story, and she was left alone for some 20 minutes while medical workers were with another patient. During that time, she “went into respiratory distress and suffered a brain injury that ultimately led to her death,” her attorney told the Intelligencer.

It was later learned “that the monitor placed on Edwards was either not properly set or muted so the nurse could not hear warnings of Edwards’ respiratory distress,” the story reported.

The teen’s family received a $6 million settlement in the medical malpractice case this past December, and several policies and medical procedures were changed at the surgical center to prevent a similar outcome from every happening again, the story reported. Nurses must be present and remain with each patient who comes out of surgery into a recovery room after receiving pain medicines, and patient monitors can no longer be muted by medical staff members, according to the Intelligencer. In addition, “nurses must have clear lines of sight so they can see their patients at all times,” said the report.

Tonsillectomies, in which the tonsils are removed from the back of a patient’s throat, are one of the most common surgical procedures in the United States, with more than 530,000 procedures performed annually in children younger than 15 years, according to a 2011 clinical practice guideline report by the University of Toledo Medical Center in Ohio.

And usually, it is a very safe procedure, according to a 2010 post on the ENT (Ear Nose and Throat) Blog, maintained by Fauquier Ear Nose & Throat Consultants of Virginia.

“Medical literature places the mortality rate from tonsillectomy between one in 15,000 and one in 35,000 procedures (0.03% – 0.06%), mostly from anesthesia complications, airway loss, and blood loss,” according to the blog post. That means that about 30 deaths occur per year from the procedure. “As such, tonsillectomy should ONLY be performed if they are truly causing a significant health problem such as obstructive sleep apnea or recurrent tonsillar infections and NOT just because ‘they are big.’”

A similar case occurred in Palm Harbor, Fla., in 2010 when a 12-year-old girl died after a tonsillectomy and her family filed a lawsuit alleging medical mistakes in her treatment.

These tragic cases are somber reminders of the kinds of problems that can arise when patients seek medical treatment in hospitals and other medical facilities and become innocent victims of inadequate or incorrect procedures.

Patients and their families must be vigilant about the medical care they receive so they know what is being done for a patient’s care every step of the way. But at the same time, patients and families aren’t doctors and they can’t know every question to ask.

That’s where skilled, expert, compassionate and thorough legal representation is needed by patients and their families who have been harmed by medical errors or omissions during their treatment. These kinds of cases happen on a regular basis, but they can be fought by legal teams that are prepared to battle for their clients’ rights all along the way to a fair settlement or to a just verdict.

We here at MyPhillyLawyer stand ready to assist you with your legal case if you or a loved one is ever seriously injured in a medical malpractice or related case anywhere in the United States. We represent the families of victims who die in such tragedies as well, to ensure that their families receive every penny of damages that they are eligible to receive.

Call MyPhillyLawyer at 215-227-2727 or toll-free at 1-866-920-0352 anytime and our experienced, compassionate, aggressive team of attorneys and support staff will be there for you and your family every step of the way as we manage your case through the legal system.

When Winning Matters Most, Call MyPhillyLawyer.

After getting routine steroid shots to treat various aches and pains, 21 patients from across the United States have died from fungal meningitis connected to contaminated steroid medications provided by a Boston-area pharmacy.

So far, 268 cases of the fungal meningitis from the contaminated injectable medications have been reported with more continuing to come in, according to a story from Reuters, while ongoing investigations into the outbreak continue.

Now a lawsuit has been filed on behalf of one of the victims of the tragedy against the pharmacy, New England Compounding Center (NECC).

“U.S. health regulators confirmed on Thursday the presence of the deadly Exserohilum fungus in vials of the NECC steroid used for the pain injections,” Reuters reported. “They estimate that as many as 14,000 people may have been exposed to the contaminated medication.”

Image credit: © iStockphoto.com/Oxford

The outbreak appears to be connected to three potentially contaminated lots of the drug, methylprednisolone, which were shipped to 76 facilities in 23 states, the report stated.

NECC suspended operations earlier this month as the investigation into the outbreak continued, and the company recalled its products, according to a story by Bloomberg Businessweek.

Meningitis is a disease caused by the inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord known as the meninges, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  The inflammation is usually caused by an infection of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord.

Unlike other forms of meningitis, the fungal meningitis infection in these cases is not contagious, according to the CDC. But left untreated, it can cause serious health problems and is potentially deadly.

Several patients have suffered strokes that are believed to have resulted from their infections, according to the CDC, which other patients have developed fungal infections associated with injections in a peripheral joint, such as a knee, shoulder or ankle.

“CDC and public health officials are referring any patients who have symptoms that suggest possible fungal infection to their physicians, who can evaluate them further,” the agency stated. “Patients who received injections in peripheral joints only are not believed to be at risk for meningitis, but they could be at risk for joint infection.”

As many as 14,000 patients may have received injections using the contaminated steroids, according to the CDC.

“Patients and clinicians need to remain vigilant for onset of symptoms because fungal infections can be slow to develop” the agency reported. “In this outbreak symptoms typically have appeared 1 to 4 weeks following injection, but it’s important to know that longer and shorter periods of time between injection and onset of symptoms have been reported. “

Patients and their doctors should watch closely for symptoms of problems for at least several months following the injection, the CDC recommends.

What’s particularly worrisome about the outbreak from a legal standpoint is that there is apparently little federal oversight for so-called compounding pharmacies like NECC, which take ingredients and make their own batches of drugs, usually for lower prices than major drug manufacturers, according to a story in The New York Times.

“The Food and Drug Administration has more regulatory authority over a drug factory in China than over a compounding pharmacy in Massachusetts,” Kevin Outterson, an associate professor of law at Boston University, told The Times.

At the same time, “many compounding pharmacies perform well, producing formulations of drugs for specialized needs,” The Times reported. “Compounders have also provided hospitals and doctors with cheaper alternatives to F.D.A.-approved drugs.”

In the case of NECC, “the Massachusetts company itself has a troubled past,” The Times reported. “A series of complaints had been lodged against New England Compounding over the past decade. The State Health Department inspected in 2006. According to a warning letter sent by the F.D.A. from that year, the company was accused of illegally producing a standardized anesthetic topical cream, inappropriately repackaging a drug, and telling doctors that using an office staff member’s name was enough to put in an order, even though rules require a prescription for a particular patient.”

For patients who have been receiving steroid injections, all of this is sobering news.

You should talk with your doctor to find out if it is possible that your injections included medications that are involved in the current meningitis outbreak, and you should work out a plan for follow-up care and monitoring to ensure your health and safety.

It is imperative that patients ask lots of questions and demand answers about their medical care from their doctors and other clinicians during every step of their care.

There are so many legal questions that arise in medical treatment cases like the meningitis outbreak. That’s why you and your family should immediately seek professional and compassionate legal advice and assistance so you can quickly learn your legal options to recover damages if you are seriously injured in such a situation.

We here at MyPhillyLawyer stand ready to assist you with your legal case if you or a loved one is ever seriously injured in a medical injury or related case anywhere in the United States. We represent the families of victims who die in such tragedies as well, to ensure that their families receive every penny of damages that they are eligible to receive.

Call MyPhillyLawyer at 215-227-2727 or toll-free at 1-866-920-0352 anytime and our experienced, compassionate, aggressive team of attorneys and support staff will be there for you and your family every step of the way as we manage your case through the legal system.

When Winning Matters Most, Call MyPhillyLawyer.

The family of a 53-year-old woman who died after surgery won a $6 million jury verdict in York County in a recent wrongful death case against the medical team that treated her.

In what is believed to be the largest York County jury award in several years, the jury ruled in favor of the family of the victim, 53-year-old Sherrie Ann Burkhardt, who died Dec. 19, 2007, two days after she underwent emergency surgery at York Hospital, according to a story in The York Daily Record.

Burkhardt, of Seven Valleys, Pa., had been admitted to the hospital complaining of chest pains.

After she arrived at the hospital, a surgeon examined her and performed a cardiac catheterization on the patient, according to a story in The Legal Intelligencer.  The examination found that Burkhardt’s right heart artery was almost completely obstructed and required three stents.

Image credit: © iStockphoto.com/babyblueut

Complications began after the patient was moved to the hospital’s medical surgical intensive care unit following the surgery, according to The Legal Intelligencer.  During court testimony, one of the doctors on Burkhardt’s medical team said he told another doctor about observing abnormal abdominal bleeding in the patient after the surgery.  The other doctor, however, testified that he was “only made aware of a transient drop in blood pressure and would have ordered all the proper tests had he known Burkhardt’s full list of symptoms.”

That poor communication between the doctors was a key part of the Burkhardt family’s case against the medical team and the hospital. “The complaint alleged her death was the post-surgery result of a lack of communication and violation of patient safety rules by doctors at York Hospital and Cardiac Diagnostic Associates,” reported The York Daily Record.

Ultimately, that meant that the victim didn’t receive adequate care following the surgery.

In a pre-trial memorandum, the Burckhardt family alleged that neither doctor “continued to inform any cardiologist, as had been ordered, about the drop in blood pressure and increase in heart rate, nor did they advise of the hallmark symptoms of bleeding, back pain, abdominal pain, distension and tenderness, gray skin pallor, anxiety, agitation and labored respirations,” according to The Legal Intelligencer. “Either way, all the symptoms the plaintiff pled as hallmark signs of internal bleeding were documented in Sherrie Burkhardt’s medical records only 10 minutes after she arrived in the intensive care unit and three hours before she coded and went into cardiac arrest.”

The Burkhardt family was awarded $5 million for wrongful death and $1 million for any treatment injuries that Burkhardt suffered before she died, according to the paper.

This tragic case illustrates the dangers and risks that patients can face when undergoing medical procedures in emergencies. Split-second decisions made by doctors, nurses and other medical staff members can have huge and instant negative impacts on patients when they are most vulnerable during medical emergencies. And poor communication about patients and their ongoing treatment among medical team members can be devastating, and deadly.

That’s why if you or a family member is ever involved in such a situation you should get the best legal advice you can find to learn your legal options so you can recover damages for your injuries and suffering.

We here at MyPhillyLawyer stand ready to assist you with your legal case if you or a loved one is ever seriously injured in a medical malpractice or related case anywhere in the United States. We represent the families of victims who die in such tragedies as well, to ensure that their families receive every penny of damages that they are eligible to receive.

Call MyPhillyLawyer at 215-227-2727 or toll-free at 1-866-920-0352 anytime and our experienced, compassionate, aggressive team of attorneys and support staff will be there for you and your family every step of the way as we manage your case through the legal system.

When Winning Matters Most, Call MyPhillyLawyer.

Serious infections after liposuction surgery have caused the death of one patient and sickened two others, forcing the closing of a Timonium, Md., medical facility while authorities work to determine how the death and illnesses could have occurred.

Officials at the Monarch Medspa surgery center “are cooperating as Maryland and Baltimore County health officials investigate the source of the infections, which involve the same bacteria that causes strep throat,” according to a story in The Baltimore Sun.  “But the bacteria can be significantly more dangerous when infecting other parts of the body, sometimes causing shock, organ failure and even death.”

All three patients became ill after undergoing liposuction procedures at the facility, according to the paper. The 59-year-old woman who died, whose identity was not released due to medical privacy laws, underwent liposuction surgery at the facility in the beginning of September, then returned to the surgery center the next day and complained of extensive bleeding, The Sun reported. She was sent home, then family members later called an ambulance after her condition worsened. After being taken to two different hospitals for treatment, she died after medical staff members were unable to stop the post-surgical infection that was coursing through her body, The Sun reported.

A surgical team is in the midst of a medical procedure in this stock photo. Image credit: © iStockphoto.com/uchar

“In an order closing the center, state health officials said inspectors at the facility Tuesday observed ‘probable deviations from standard infection control practices,’” the paper reported. Proper sterilization of all instruments, dressings and every other item used on a patient before, during and after surgeries is critical to preventing such infections in the first place and those procedures are mandatory.

Now Maryland state health department officials are looking at whether they should increase oversight of cosmetic surgery centers, The Sun reported. “While doctors and nurses working in the centers must be board-certified, the centers themselves are not required to be licensed,” the paper said.

The three patients contracted infections of a bacteria known as group A staphylococcus, according to the story. Symptoms of post-surgical problems for patients can include fever, redness at a wound site, abrupt onset of pain, and swelling, dizziness, weakness and confusion, Maryland health officials told The Sun.

The surgery center has other locations in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware, and offers many types of cosmetic surgeries, including liposuction, face lifts, Botox and more, according to The Sun.

For the victims and their families, these tragic cases illustrate the importance of knowing the credentials and qualifications of surgeons, medical staff and the facilities in which they work before undergoing invasive and potentially dangerous medical procedures.

That means ensuring that any surgery center you or a loved one might use is fully certified, regulated and licensed so that it follows all accepted medical practices related to treatment, infections, post-operative care and the rest.

There can be no shortcuts in such cases, because the ongoing health of you and your loved ones is at stake. You must ask probing questions of health care workers and facilities to ensure that they will have your best interests at heart as you are given care, from start to finish.

Yet if all of that still fails and you or a loved one are seriously injured due to an errant medical procedure in a surgery center, cosmetic surgery office, hospital, clinic, doctor’s office or any other medical facility, you should get the best legal advice you can find to learn your legal options so you can recover damages for your injuries and suffering.

We here at MyPhillyLawyer stand ready to assist you with your legal case if you or a loved one is ever seriously injured in a medical malpractice or related case anywhere in the United States. We represent the families of victims who die in such tragedies as well, to ensure that their families receive every penny of damages that they are eligible to receive.

Call MyPhillyLawyer at 215-227-2727 or toll-free at 1-866-920-0352 anytime and our experienced, compassionate, aggressive team of attorneys and support staff will be there for you and your family every step of the way as we manage your case through the legal system.

When Winning Matters Most, Call MyPhillyLawyer.

When 38-year-old Melvin A. Dillard Jr. felt chest pains June 26, he was rushed to a hospital in Lewes, Del., where he was checked out by medical personnel in the emergency room and then later released.

But while Dillard was sitting in the ER lobby waiting for a ride home at Beebe Medical Center, he apparently suffered a heart attack and died, then his body was not discovered by hospital personnel until the next morning, according to a story in The (Wilmington, DE) News Journal.

“The family now is alleging medical negligence and wrongful death in a lawsuit against Beebe and Sussex Emergency Associates, which operates the hospital’s ER department, and is seeking damages,” according The News Journal. “The family alleges that given Dillard’s symptoms and history of cardiac issues, he should have been admitted for observation and not sent away.”

Image credit: © iStockphoto.com/djgunner

The hospital issued a statement saying that Dillard “was seen, treated appropriately following all protocols and was discharged in stable condition,” the story reported. “While sleeping in the lobby waiting for a ride, the individual passed away.”

When he arrived at the hospital by ambulance, Dillard, who lived in Newark, Del., “was showing signs ‘consistent with an impending cardiac event’ and upon admission to the ER had an abnormal EKG,” the paper reported. “It is unclear what happened next, but Dillard was discharged with instructions to follow up with his cardiologist, according to the suit.”

After he was seen, he apparently couldn’t immediately get a ride home so he waited in the lobby, perhaps for a bus, the story said. “At some unknown time, Dillard then had a fatal heart attack but no one noticed.”

His lifeless body remained in the ER waiting area until he was found the next day, the family’s lawsuit states. He was rushed back into the ER when he was finally found, but he was eventually pronounced dead. Rigor mortis, when the body’s muscles stiffen naturally after death, had already set in, which indicated that his death had occurred at least several hours before he was found, according to the story.

Emergency room treatment injuries or deaths are not uncommon. In June, a Waverly, Md., family was awarded a $55 million verdict by a Baltimore Circuit Court jury for severe injuries suffered by their newborn son during his birth in March of 2010. In that case, the mother of the baby was rushed to a Baltimore hospital by ambulance for an emergency Caesarean section, but instead of being instantly taken into an emergency room for immediate surgery, she had to wait for more than two hours until the procedure was started. That delay, according to a lawsuit she filed against Johns Hopkins Hospital, meant that critically-needed medical care wasn’t given to her son in time, resulting in his being born with severe, life-changing birth defects.

The award was one of the largest in Maryland history for a medical malpractice case.

Medical negligence and malpractice cases like these highlight the kinds of problems that can arise whenever patients seek medical treatment in hospitals and other medical facilities. Medical errors, when incorrect procedures are undertaken or incorrect medicines are given, are two types of issues that happen, but delays in receiving critically-needed care are also problematic for patients.

These kinds of cases are clear reminders that patients and their families must be vigilant about the medical care that they receive.

The horror of suffering serious injuries or losing a loved one due to such an incident is horrifying, especially because they were in a medical facility to get help and ended up becoming the victim of a tragedy.

Patients and families aren’t doctors and they can’t know every question to ask of medical professionals in times of crisis. That’s where skilled, expert, compassionate and thorough legal representation is needed by patients and their families who have been harmed by negligence, malpractice, medical errors or omissions during their treatment.

We here at MyPhillyLawyer stand ready to assist you with your legal case if you or a loved one is ever seriously injured in a medical malpractice or related case anywhere in the United States. We represent the families of victims who die in such tragedies as well, to ensure that their families receive every penny of damages that they are eligible to receive.

Call MyPhillyLawyer at 215-227-2727 or toll-free at 1-866-920-0352 anytime and our experienced, compassionate, aggressive team of attorneys and support staff will be there for you and your family every step of the way as we manage your case through the legal system.

When Winning Matters Most, Call MyPhillyLawyer.