When people think of medical malpractice, they often only think about the doctors involved and the level of human error that they display. However, there are plenty of occasions whereby medical malpractice is caused by defective medical products and devices. Sadly, these can cause significant injury to you and/or your child during birth which isn’t always reversible.
In 2013, a man from Maryland died after contracting rabies from an infected kidney that he received as a transplant in 2011. This is only the second time that rabies has been transmitted through a donated organ in the US. Rabies is extremely rare in the US – causing only 1 to 3 deaths a year. Additionally, signs and symptoms of rabies usually appear within a month or two after initial infection, so the fact that the man’s symptoms appeared over a year after his transplant was something that steered doctors away from a rabies diagnosis.
According to reports, the kidney donor, a
Actress Julie Andrews is a well-known and well-loved star in Hollywood. Made famous from leading roles in movies such as “Mary Poppins” and “The Sound of Music,” Julie Andrews had a gifted singing voice which was her pride and joy. Sadly, an unfortunate case of medical malpractice in 1997 caused her to lose her singing voice and resulted in a medical malpractice lawsuit.
After consulting with two doctors at New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital due to discomfort whilst singing, Julie Andrews found out that she had noncancerous nodules on her vocal cords. Whilst these nodules can generally be treated without surgery, Julie
In the summer of 2018, six patients at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York, developed a rare infection after they received injectable opioids diluted with tap water. This resulted in the patients developing bloodstream infections with Sphingomonas paucimobilis.
Thankfully, all of the patients were treated with antibiotics and no deaths resulted from the infections, though some patients later died from causes related to their cancer. However, the question still remained: how did a bacterium, which naturally lives in soil and water, find its way into the bloodstreams of these patients?
Wrongful death and medical malpractice are two terms that confuse many people. They’re very closely linked, with the key distinguishing feature being that as a result of a medical practitioner’s negligence, you or a family member dies a premature death. Examples of types of medical malpractice that lead to wrongful death include:
In 2008, the Banner Thunderbird Medical Center in Glendale, AZ, experienced a “never event” due to a doctor error that prompted a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Kerry Higuera was three months pregnant when she erroneously underwent a CT scan meant for another patient. She went to the hospital’s ER after experiencing bleeding and was surprised when a nurse came to the waiting room and told her that her doctor wanted a CT scan to be done. Kerry states that she questioned the decision, but the nurse reiterated that the doctor wanted an abdominal and pelvic CT scan conducted.
In 2007, Nancy Andrews and her husband sued a Long Island fertility clinic after it was revealed that they had inseminated her with the wrong man’s sperm.
Nancy and her husband approached the New York Services for Reproductive Medicine for in-vitro fertilization treatments after struggling to conceive their second child. Nancy became pregnant soon after and gave birth to a healthy baby girl nine months later. The couple’s joy quickly turned to bewilderment, however, when it became apparent that the girl had markedly darker skin than either of her parents.
A startling trend of nursing home neglect has begun to emerge in recent years. Even worse, cases of nursing home neglect have been shown to be treated far less severely than the neglect of children and even that of animals. It has been revealed that the number of nursing home deaths and injuries caused by neglect or abuse is severely underreported.
Some of the harrowing statistics of nursing home neglect include:
In 2007, Ed McMahon, a TV show host, suffered a fall at a Los Angeles home which resulted in a fractured neck. He went to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center the following morning for assessment. Doctors at the hospital did not take an X-ray and failed to diagnose his neck fracture. They discharged him without further investigation.
When Ed continued to experience increasing pain and discomfort, he returned to the hospital. A full assessment was conducted, and it was revealed that he did, in fact, have a fractured neck. Ed underwent two spine surgeries to repair the damage, however, he later claimed that these two surgeries were
What is Erb’s Palsy?
Erb’s palsy, also known as brachial plexus palsy, is a condition whereby your baby cannot use one or both of their arms, shoulders, or hands adequately. The condition presents through the affected limbs being weak, lacking feeling, or completely paralyzed. It is caused by the collection of nerves around your baby’s shoulder being damaged during a difficult delivery.
Unlike cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy results from direct damage to these nerves as opposed to damage to your child’s brain. Because this injury occurs around the time of birth, it is considered a birth injury.
