Hawaii Injury Lawyer Blog

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal emphasizes what attorneys and civil justice advocates have known for years – medical malpractice cases improve patient safety.

Medical malpractice often arises out of a missed or delayed diagnosis. Before a patient can receive appropriate treatment, a physician must make a timely and accurate diagnosis. However, communication breakdowns can lead to diagnostic errors, and ultimately tragic results.

According to a patient-safety researcher, mistakes in diagnoses kill 40,000-80,000 hospitalized patients each year. Diagnostic mistakes often involve cancer, with breast cancer topping the list as the most commonly missed or delayed diagnosis.

The WSJ article cites three examples of medical malpractice that have “taught” medical professional about the dangers of faulty communication and delays and incorrect diagnoses:

“A doctor assumes a patient’s recurrent cough is a respiratory infection and doesn’t order a chest X-ray, missing a deadly lung cancer. A 40-year-old woman dies of a rare blood disease after her abnormal lab test falls through the cracks. A man dies from an obstructed bowel after different doctors treating him fail to share information about his acute abdominal pain.”

The article notes that these cases and others have led medical professionals to analyze what went wrong – for example did the error occurs because of inexperience, poor communication, or carelessness? Based on this analysis health care providers evaluate how to prevent mistakes in the future.

The bottom line – if you’ve been injured as a result of a medical error – filing a lawsuit may do more than provide you the compensation you deserve – it may actually improve patient safety and prevent the same error from occurring again.

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A former Hawaii Navy family has received an $11 million settlement after their newborn daughter - Kayla - suffered permanent brain damage as the result of a “serious of egregious medical errors.” The settlement was reached on the eve of a federal trial. During Kayla’s delivery, a breakdown in communication occurred between two doctors, leading to the injury.

Children can suffer birth injuries in labor and delivery and immediately after birth – typically sustaining permanent and serious injuries such as Erb’s palsy and cerebral palsy. Birth injuries occur when blood does not flow adequately during labor and delivery. If doctors and nurses are not able to immediately take action to increase oxygen supply a baby, life-long injuries may occur.

Physicians and medical staff who fail to act in an appropriate manner may be legally responsible for medical malpractice.

Here, after the mother had spent several hours in the maternity ward, doctors concluded that the baby was showing signs of distress and needed to be delivered immediately. However, the second-year resident who had been monitoring the mother’s progress and her supervisor experienced a “failure of communication” and the delivery was not expedited by emergency cesarean or other method. Kayla was born with her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. When she was handed to an intern, the oxygen tube was inserted erroneously, sending oxygen into her stomach rather than her lungs.

Kayla was born with brain damage that caused cerebral palsy and permanent disabilities, requiring constant care and supervision.

Some of the $11 million will go into a fund to ensure that there will be enough money to provide for her care for the rest of her life. In a statement issued on Tuesday, Tripler Army Medical Center accepts responsibility and states, “[T]he circumstances surrounding the November 2005 birth of Kayla McCraw at Tripler Army Medical Center were an unfortunate tragedy. Tripler accepts full responsibility for the outcome, resulting in its decision to support the settlement of the lawsuit brought by Kayla and her family. Tripler is especially gratified in knowing that Kayla will receive the medical care, assistance and rehabilitation that she needs for the rest of her life.”

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In one of the nation’s largest nursing home negligence settlements ever, Skilled Healthcare Group Inc. has agreed to a $50 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit. Earlier this summer, a jury had awarded the plaintiffs $670 million after finding the company liable for understaffing its nursing homes throughout California. The jury found that the staffing levels at Skilled Healthcare’s nursing homes were insufficient and illegal, endangering its residents. The class included 32,000 people, including the families of residents who died as a result of the neglect.

As our population ages, nursing home abuse cases have increased. When a patient is placed in a nursing home, it is often because the patient is unable to care for him or herself. We expect that nursing home staff and owners will take extra care to provide a safe environment that promotes health and well-being of elderly residents. When the nursing home fails to meet this standard and their actions lead to injury or wrongful death, the nursing home is guilty of nursing home abuse.

In the Skilled Healthcare matter, understaffing led to horrific instances of neglect and abuse.

Nursing home abuse is a particularly odious form of medical malpractice because the victims are often unable to speak up for themselves and accuse the abusers. Often it is only through the observation of family members or visitors who suspect something is wrong, and demand an investigation, that the wrongdoing comes to light.

Continue reading " $50 Million Settlement In Nursing Home Negligence Case " »

In a recent case discussed the American Academy of Pediatrics News, a jury awarded $2.7 million on behalf of a child after determining two separate pediatricians were negligent in treating the toddler. Following a series of mistakes, physicians determined that the child had pediatric meningitis. However, as a result of the failure to diagnose meningitis in a timely matter, the child was rendered totally deaf and required a surgical shunt to drain fluid from her brain.

Pediatric meningitis is a leading cause of childhood mortality and lifelong medical problems. It is a Central Nervous System (CNS) infection that can cause catastrophic injuries if not diagnosed and treatment properly. Health care providers are trained to recognize the symptoms and take action quickly. When a health care provider fails to do so, he or she may be liable for medical malpractice.

In the instant case, a 15-month-old girl was taken to a hospital with a fever of 104 degrees. A first pediatrician diagnosed her with a double ear infection, prescribed amoxicillin and acetaminophen, and sent her home. Three days later, the mother called and reported that her daughter was sleeping constantly, not eating, and still had a fever. A second pediatrician stopped the amoxicillin and prescribed another antibiotic. After the fever failed to subside, the mother took the child to the emergency and was given a diagnosis of fever dehydration as a result of the ear infection. The fever persisted and after visiting the ED every day for a week, doctors eventually performed a spinal tap, revealing Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib) meningitis.

By the time the spinal tap was performed, the child had suffered permanent hearing loss. Medical experts testified that had the spinal tap been performed earlier, the condition could have been successfully treated.

Although not every mistake constitutes medical negligence, when health care providers fail to comply with the requisite standard of care, they may be liable for the damages caused by their medical malpractice.

Continue reading " $2.7 Million Pediatric Meningitis Verdict " »

Cooling therapy – also known as therapeutic hypothermia – is becoming more widespread as a way to treat infants born with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) or oxygen deprivation. In many birth trauma cases, infants are deprived oxygen due to delays in delivery. Where oxygen deprivation occurs, infants run the risk of developing permanent neurological conditions such as cerebral palsy.
According to NPR, about 10,000 babies in the United States develop cerebral palsy within the first few months of birth.

While there is no cure for cerebral palsy, increased attention is being paid to early intervention. Cooling therapy – lowering an infant’s body temperature by a couple of degrees – has been shown to decrease the impact of oxygen deprivation.
Cooling therapy works by inducing a mild form of hypothermia that reduces the brain’s need from oxygen and slows various processes that damage brain cells. After an infant’s body is cooled for a couple of days, it is then normalized. In many cases, the risk of developing cerebral palsy is significantly reduced and the severity of any brain injury lessened.

Cooling therapy has also been found to help victims of cardiac arrest by protecting the brain. Reuters reports that therapeutic hypothermia increases the chances of surviving a cardiac attacks with full brain function by more than half.

Continue reading " Cooling Therapy Decreases Risk Of Cerebral Palsy After Birth Trauma " »