Nearly $3 Million Medical Malpractice in Fairfax, VA

Posted on February 17, 2010 by Greenberg & Bederman

Congratulations to John J. Sellinger, our medical malpractice attorney, on his $2,933,500.00 verdict in a medical malpractice/wrongful death case tried in Fairfax, Virginia.   On Tuesday, February 15, 2010, a jury in Fairfax County Virginia returned a verdict of $2,933,500, in a medical malpractice wrongful death case against a radiologist for failure to identify a perforated esophagus on a Chest CT scan. The patient had presented to the Emergency Department with complaints of severe chest pain after eating a piece of meat which had become stuck in his throat. A chest CT was ordered by the emergency room physician and was read as essentially normal by the radiologist. Evidence of the perforation was not identified on the scan. Because the Chest CT was misread, the perforation of the esophagus went undiagnosed and the patient received essentially no treatment of the condition for nearly 24 hours. As a result, he became extremely ill and dehydrated. After the perforation was discovered, as the patient was being prepped for surgery, he suffered an arrest which resulted in fatal anoxic brain injury. His survivors were his wife and two adult children. Deborah Alvarez vs. Association of Alexandria Radiologists, P.C., in the Circuit Court for Fairfax County, Virginia.

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Preventing Medical Errors

Posted on November 17, 2009 by Greenberg & Bederman

There are two major principles at work in any medical facility. The first is the Hippocratic Oath, which is basically an affirmation of what practicing medicine is supposed to be about. It includes statements like:

I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.

I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.

Despite having to battle through the economic realities of modern medicine in America, where the insurance companies wield influence in equal measure with the doctors, most medical professionals do their best to abide by this oath.

But the second major principle at work in most hospitals is Murphy’s Law, which states that anything that can go wrong will go wrong. And the number of medical or surgical errors that take place in this country every year seems to back that up.

The Institute of Medicine released a landmark report back in 1999, in which it was claimed that as many as 98,000 people per year die due to preventable medical errors.  Even with that report having been written a decade ago, both the numbers of errors and practices that lead to them have remained quite solidly in place. In 2008, The Washington Postreported that within a two year period, medical errors led to 238,337 preventable medical errors, and that was only among Medicare recipients. 

 

Medical errors can happen at any point in a patients visit to the hospital. They can happen in the waiting room, they can happen in the operating room or they can happen while you are recuperating in your hospital bed. Any department of the hospital, from the Admitting Room to the Pharmacy, can make a mistake that could conceivably kill you or leave you with severe disabilities.

Many of these errors are beyond your control. After all, you didn’t go to medical school. You don’t have the background in medicine needed to know if your course of treatment is the correct one. You don’t know if you have been given the right medication, or if your surgery is being done correctly. But there are elements of a hospital visit that are within your control, which brings us to a recent article in CNN on how you can avoid becoming the victim of a medical error.

The article is centered on a woman named Kerry Higuera, who was three months into her pregnancy when she experienced an episode of bleeding. She went to the emergency room, and due to what was essentially a miscommunication, Ms. Higuera was given a CAT scan that was meant for a woman with the same first name. This resulted in her unborn child being exposed to radiation, which can be extremely dangerous.

The story ends somewhat happily, in that Ms. Higuera’s child was born healthy, but that still does not change the fact that a medical error resulted in her child being exposed to needless dangers. The article then goes on to list a few things that you can do to help you avoid becoming the victim of a mistake.

Doing simple things like repeating your name, birthday and the procedure that you are in for can go a long way: Don’t ever just assume that the nurses and surgeons know exactly who you are and why you are there. Telling them as often as possible is a way for you to make sure. Don’t be shy about telling everyone from the candy striper to the nurse to the anesthesiologist your name, birthday and the reason for your trip to the hospital.

Don’t underestimate your ID bracelet: That ubiquitous bit of plastic that is placed on the wrist of every patient that enters a hospital might be annoying, but it could save you from getting wheeled into the wrong operating room. This is why you should always take a close look at your bracelet to make sure that the information on it is correct. You should also remember that nurses and doctors are required to check your bracelet to verify your identity, so make sure that they do so if they are able.

Have your chart read to you: It wouldn’t hurt to ask your nurse to read your chart to you. There might be a difference between what you think it says and what it actually does.

Don’t worry about being polite: There are many times when manners and etiquette are important, but a trip to the hospital is not one of them. If you are in the hospital, the odds are that you are in need of medical care or a surgical procedure. Considering the weight of what you are about to undergo in a hospital, being nice takes a backseat to making sure that everything is proceeding as it should. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. If something doesn’t feel right or if you aren’t sure that you are getting the treatment that you are supposed to get, you should say something.

You shouldn’t labor under the idea that medical errors only happen to other people. As attorneys who offer legal assistance to injury victims in the Washington, D.C. area, we can tell you with great certainty that mistakes by doctors, nurses or other hospital staff can happen to anyone. And in the event that one happens to you or a loved one in Virginia, Maryland, Baltimore or D.C, contact Greenberg and Bederman for a free medical malpractice legal consultation today. We have been providing legal help to victims of medical malpractice or negligence and errors for close to twenty five years, and will do our best to see that you get the compensation you deserve for your injuries.   Remember, not all medical errors are necessarily medical malpractice. To learn more about medical malpractice, read our medical malpractice FAQ page
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Medical Malpractice Hospital Infections

Posted on November 3, 2008 by Paula Strand

Hospital Acquired Infections

                The Center’s for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 5 -10% of hospitalized patients develop an infection related to healthcare association (HAI).  This corresponds to approximately 2 million HAI’s associated with nearly 100,000 deaths each year in US Hospital.  Studies have shown that patients requiring intensive care are at much higher risk. Most infections that become clinically evident after 48 hours of admission are considered hospital acquired.  Sadly, many of these could have been prevented by implementing practices that would have prevented the infections.  Recent measures put into effect in some hospitals focused on HAI prevention into regulatory and financial reimbursement systems, which reflect the growing belief that many HAIs are preventable, possibly thru the implementation of evidence based “best practices.”

                There are three different risk factors for the invasion of bacteria, which can be categorized into three different areas: 

·         Iatrogenic – These include bacteria transmitted from the hands of hospital personnel, antibiotic use, prophylaxis and invasive procedures sure as tube intubation, vascular lines, extended ventilation and urine catheterization.

·         Organizational - This includes environmental situations such as contaminated ventilation systems and water systems and staffing and physical layout of facilities, for example bed to patient ratio and nurse to patient ratio.

·         Prophylaxis – This includes issues such as length of stay, underlying immune-compromised state and severity of illness.

 

Viral, bacterial and fungal bacteria cause nosocomial infections.  Viruses are the leading cause of nosocomial infections in pediatric patients.  While bacterial and fungal infections are less common they are more commonly associated with morbidity and mortality.  Some of the more common nosocomial infections include but are not limited to:

·         MRSA – Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus is now unfortunately a tremendous problem within healthcare facilities.  It is a huge challenge in as much as it remains a significant cause of hospital-acquired infection.  It can only be treated with the glycopeptides group of antibiotics such as vancomycin, which is expensive, can only be given intravenously, and has been associated with renal impairment.

·         Group A Strep – This is a type of strep that causes sore throats but also scarlet fever and rheumatic fever and pneumonia

·         Group B Strep – This is the most common type of strep found in newborns.  It is very dangerous and can cause meningitis, brain damage, cerebral palsy, hearing and vision loss and death.  It is also very dangerous to pregnant women, elderly and those with compromised immune systems.

·         Necrotising fasciitis – This is a very severe bacterial infection, which often results in amputation of a limb or death.

Infections such as these can be completely devastating not only to the victim but to their families.  Babies may require extended hospital stays, or worse yet have ongoing lifelong effects due to the infection the acquired.  A patient going in for a simple operation may come away with a debilitating infection not only requiring months of treatment but also possibly risking the loss of a limb or even worse the loss of their life.

Many states require that healthcare facilities require stricter enforcement of measures to prevent these infections, yet, tragically, this is an ongoing problem.  Patients put their trust into the doctors and healthcare facilities at times when they are very vulnerable completely believing they will come home from the hospital healthier than they went in.  Hospitals and the medical profession owe it to their patients to make sure they receive the best possible care available in a sterile environment.  If you or your loved one has contacted an infection as a result of hospital or medical error, you need a legal team experienced in this type of malpractice. 

 To learn more about medical malpractice issues, please read medical malpractice frequently asked questions on our website.  TO learn more about our medical malpractice lawyer, John J. Sellinger, please read about our firm, and click on firm bios for Mr. Sellinger, or watch his medical malpractice video.
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