Pleasant Law Blog (Insurance Claims, Medical Misakes, and Nursing Home Claims)

Doctor Alleged to Have Ignored Patient Drug Allergy, Leading to Hospital Death

By North Carolina Medical and Surgical Negligence, Malpractice, Mistakes, and Errors Attorney Thomas W. Pleasant (Fayetteville, Raleigh, Wilmington, North Carolina).The following link, http://www.post-trib.com/news/1111760,hospdeath817.article takes you to a recent Post-Tribune article about a medical malpractice case where the doctor allegedly ignored the drug allergy of the patient. This patient had had a severe reaction to morphine after some prior medical treatment, and the family allegedly told the healthcare providers about this allergy before she went for some fairly routine type back surgery. Despite the warning, morphine was given, and the lady ended up dying as a result of this medical mistake. Time and litigation will have to flesh out what exactly happened, and whether there are legitimate defenses to this medical malpractice claim, but the allegations here smack of negligence, at least on the surface. These are the kinds of situations where a legal claim or lawsuit might be justified. A “family warning” case of a similar nature recently came through my office. In that case, a lady underwent the insertion of a dialysis catheter, by way of her jugular vein. The family warned the surgery center – during the intake session with the nurses at the hospital – that  their mother had weak vessels in her neck area, a possible alternative site for the patient’s dialysis access catheter. Also, the problems with the blood vessels were known by the patient’s nephrologist, or kidney doctor (who was not to be actually performing the catheter insertion). For some reason, neck access for the catheter was attempted, a vessel was punctured, and the patient bled to death. While there is a legal argument that the puncture of the vessel was a known risk of the surgery, that does not mean that the puncture during surgery was within the “standard of care” applicable to the physician. Additionally, the records seem to reflect that nobody on the surgery team noticed the tell-tale signs that this patient was bleeding to death. Noticing the signs of the patient’s hemorrhaging internally would have allowed “converting” the surgical procedure into an “open” procedure, whereby the damage to the vessel could be located and repaired. Interestingly, the surgery center has produced some records, and they do not contain key records previously provided to the patient’s family (record reflecting the details of the “code” situation once the doctors and nurses realized this patient was in a life or death situation). At this point, this kind of possible concealment seems to reflect some serious concern about liability. When medical malpractice lawyers take on cases like this, the proper attitude to take is, of course, the attitude of getting to the truth. But when hospitals, doctors and other health care providers “hide the ball” like this, it hurts everyone. A medical negligence lawyer won’t bring a frivolous lawsuit – to do so jeopardizes the huge sums of money (the costs of the lawsuit) that the attorney risks. But if it is necessary to file a lawsuit or claim in order to even get all the records (via court order, etc.), then it makes it difficult for the lawyer to avoid having to file the lawsuit. This is also instructive in that, if you think you or a loved one has suffered negligence at the hands of a doctor, hospital, nurse or other healthcare provider, and if you are considering taking legal action or filing a legal claim as a result; you should immediately secure the medical records yourself.

Informed Consent in Medical Malpractice Cases May Not Be What You Think

An interesting article about the doctrine of “informed consent” at the link in the heading of this blog is worth taking a look at. In the medical malpractice context, informed consent is not exactly what some clients think it to be. In a case I am working on now, a patient was killed (she bled to death) during surgery. This patient consented to the surgical procedure, for which there certainly were known risks and complications. The complication that occurred was the puncture of a blood vessel. This patient had signed a “consent” form, agreeing to the procedure. The patient’s family, whom I represent, were under the impression that, because this form (presented to the patient at the hospital) was signed by the patient, that any bad result from the surgery was a risk agreed to, and this family was not sure whether they had any legal right to hold accountable the hospital, doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers involved in the surgery. First, “informed consent” generally has nothing to do with the negligent performance of a surgery or other healthcare. Informed consent simply means that the medical provider informed the patient of the possible risks, complications, and bad outcomes that could result from a medical procedure – even if the doctor, nurses, or hospital acts clearly within the standard of care. Informed consent has more to do with whether these risks, complications, and bad outcomes would have caused the patient to decide not to have the procedure. If you have any sort of legal claim (or you think you may have a legal claim) against a doctor, hospital, nurse or other healthcare provider, informed consent could be an issue. I would advise consulting a lawyer who handles cases involving medical errors, medical mistakes and medical malpractice. My office provides free consultations, in many cases with registered nurses, to evaluate your possible medical malpractice legal claim, whether the case involves a wrongful death, or injury. You may contact The Law Offices of Thomas Waitt Pleasant, PLLC toll free to discuss your case. We can meet with you at your convenience, to include meeting at our Fayetteville, Wilmington or Raleigh locations; or we can come to you to discuss your case.

Medical Errors Attorneys and the "Medical Malpractice Crisis" - Read for the Reality

Unfortunately, Medical errors (whether in a hospital, doctor’s office or nursing home) are one of the nation's leading causes of death and injury. The Institute of Medicine reports that as many as 44,000 to 98,000 people die from medical errors and negligence in hospitals in the United States each year. This means that more people die from medical errors than from motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer, or AIDS. (See Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (2000). 20 Tips to Help Prevent Medical Errors. Patient Fact Sheet (AHRQ Publication No. 00-P038). Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.)

It astounds many people to hear this statistic, and puts fear in some people. The reality, though, is that medical malpractice is a problem. It does no good for people to stick their heads in the sand and ignore the problem. The other reality is that attorneys who handle cases dealing with medical errors, mistakes, negligence and malpractice are necessary. One hears often about a “medical malpractice crisis,” but it appears that the crisis is in the high number of injuries and deaths that occur from errors, mistakes, negligence and malpractice – as opposed to a crisis in the number of lawsuits. Many people complain about attorneys and lawsuits, until they themselves are faced with having been severely injured or hurt; or when a loved one (perhaps one who provides critical economic support to a family) is actually killed by a medical error or negligence or abuse in a nursing home. In that case, often one finds that there is nowhere to turn, as the insurance companies are not willing to face up to the loss and compensate the medical mistake victim or that victim’s family appropriately. A dedicated lawyer is often the only way a wrongful death or injury victim can get a fair result in a medical negligence situation.

Contact my office for a consultation is you have a negligence or wrongful death claim or case against a North Carolina hospital, doctor, nurse, nursing home or other healthcare provider. You can call Toll Free, 888-435-7156. We handle cases throughout North Carolina, and can arrange to meet you anywhere. We have office locations in Raleigh, Fayetteville, and Wilmington, North Carolina.

More information on medical patient safety and medical malpractice is available at:
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/errorsix.htm
http://www.pleasantlaw.com/practice_areas/medical-negligence-mistakes-and-malpractice.cf m
http://www.pleasantlaw.com/practice_areas/nursing-home-abuse-neglect1.cfm

 

Medical Malpractice Article: "Not Worth the Pain and Suffering" - a Surprise from the Business Community?

A recent Forbes article about medical malpractice lawsuits caught me by surprise. The article is at http://www.forbes.com/business/forbes/2008/0915/034.html and makes a compelling argument against “tort reform.” Specifically, “reform” that limits the amount of money plaintiffs in medical malpractice claims (including, arguably, nursing home abuse and negligence claims). Although North Carolina has not been affected by caps on “non-economic” damages, the threat looms. Coming from a business magazine like Forbes should be encouraging to those who care about the realities involved in cases of medical negligence/mistakes against hospitals, doctors, and other healthcare providers. The reality is that there are many cases where legal action for injury or wrongful death resulting from negligent healthcare is more than justified; and necessary in order to help encourage real “reform” (reform in industries where injuries and death are too commonplace due to negligence, carelessness and indifference). There are many great hospitals, doctors and other healthcare providers out there. But there are some who are incompetent and dangerous. The government has neither the will nor the resources to combat/police the bad and dangerous ones; and civil litigation has been, and will likely continue to be, one of the most effective ways to fight the problems that underlie many medical malpractice lawsuits. Often in these cases, the medical mistake at issue was entirely preventable; but because of “forces” in the industry (money/insurance pressures, e.g.) no solution was ever seriously considered, and certainly not implemented.

For more information on nursing home injury, abuse, neglect and wrongful death, visit http://www.forbes.com/business/forbes/2008/0915/034.html.  More information about medical mistakes, negligence, and errors, see http://www.pleasantlaw.com/practice_areas/medical-negligence-mistakes-and-malpractice.cfm.

If you have a possible claim against a nursing home, doctor, nurse, hospital or other healthcare provider for a medical mistake, error or medical malpractice – anywhere in North Carolina – contact my office for a free consultation.  We can arrange to meet you anywhere in North Carolina, including our Raleigh, Fayetteville and Wilmington locations. I can help you determine whether your claim is valid and worth pursuing.