Medical malpractice occurs far more often than it should, and it can lead to significant pain and unnecessary medical expenses. There are countless ways that medical negligence could happen. Our medical malpractice attorneys share a few real-life examples of how a doctor or medical professional could be negligent in rendering care.
We had a case where a woman was so sick that she went to the hospital, and the emergency room staff drew her blood for lab work. They drew blood from the left hand and the right hand, both extremities, and almost immediately the blood started showing an infection. An infectious disease doctor was brought in but the doctor made a mistake in diagnosis. Because she thought that the lab results showed an infection from skin bacteria, which could indicate that the drawing of the blood was not done in sterile conditions, that it was a contaminated sample.
But when the issue presented itself in both hand samples, that made it highly unlikely that it was a faulty or contaminated sample. In this situation, the infectious disease doctor thought the patient did not have an infection; when in fact, she had a severe infection and was discharged without antibiotics.
Because of that misdiagnosis, the patient developed bacteremia, which is bacteria in the blood. The bacteria settled in her heart which is called endocarditis. The bacteria continued to grow in her heart developing into a colony which then broke off into her bloodstream where it migrated to her brain. A stroke thereafter followed leading sadly to her death. This was negligent misdiagnosis, and the infectious disease doctor and the hospital were found to be responsible.
We had another case where a surgeon was doing a knee surgery and he noticed inflamed tissues that would indicate there was some sort of reaction. He requested a sample to send to the lab. It was reported back as a staph infection, but the surgeon never read the report, so the infection got much worse.
Because of the infection, the patient had terrible scar tissue in his knee and could not fully flex or bend it, leaving a lifelong disability. This was an example of a failure to follow up with a report, and the negligent surgeon admitted his professional negligence and the case concluded successfully.
A woman was sick with a virus, with fever, diarrhea, vomiting, and at one point it caused her to fall. Family brought her to the emergency room and the doctor conducted chest x-rays to see if she had a lung infection or pneumonia. They call it anterior posterior, which involves looking from the chest, to the back, and then lateral on the side. The x-rays were interpreted by a radiologist, who determined there was no pneumonia and no osseous defects.
But if you looked at that chest x-ray, you would be able to see a spinal fracture in the patient’s vertebral column, and an undetected and undiagnosed spinal fracture can create problems. She was treated for infection, but not for the fracture, and when she went home, she could not get out of her bathtub because she was paralyzed from her chest down. That untreated, undiagnosed spinal fracture, which could have been treated very easily with a back brace, resulted in nine months of hospitalization and permanent injuries.
The radiologist and the healthcare providers agreed that they deviated from the standard of care and the case settled successfully.
These situations are not unique. If you believe a medical professional made any kind of mistake like this, and the mistake caused injury or death, please call us. Kopfler & Hermann will investigate and handle your claim.
Our skilled personal injury attorneys have extensive experience with these kinds of claims. Learn more during a free consultation.
