Clinical Negligence

Determining responsibility

Your case must demonstrate that the defendant practitioners failed in their duty of care, which is to keep you as safe as is reasonably practicable, and that this caused them to administer negligent medical care. Your lawyers, therefore, have to prove that a clinician or health professional has not exercised a reasonable standard of skill or care when treating you.

The level of care you received must be evaluated in light of the area of medicine involved and the timing of your care. The doctor must have done something—or not done something—that his or her peers would cite as evidence that your care wasn’t up to par.

Of course, medical professionals like doctors and nurses can make mistakes without being careless. Really, medical professionals should answer this query. You won’t be able to file a claim unless another medical expert certifies that there was carelessness.

An example of this is when a caesarean section is performed; occasionally, the bladder is accidentally injured (the bladder being in close proximity to the uterus). It will not be considered irresponsible for the harm to have occurred if the bladder was in an aberrant posture, such as one that put it high above the uterus. But an expert obstetrician is likely to support a claim for negligence if the bladder is in a normal position and is cut during the caesarean section.

Establishing “causation”

You must additionally show “causation” in order for your claim to be valid. You must therefore demonstrate how the improper care contributed to your disease or injury.

The court won’t take into consideration any results from your treatment that might have been foreseeable, for example if the dangers were made plain to you before to treatment, or any pain and suffering that would tragically have been inevitable. Further pain and suffering can only be claimed if it was brought on by negligence. Medical professionals must evaluate your circumstance.For instance, if you have spinal surgery for your lower back’s lumbar spine, it’s likely that you already (pre-operatively) have a problem that’s generating symptoms, such as back discomfort that radiates into your legs (sciatica). You may be able to sue for damages for the failure of the procedure to relieve your leg pain if it is performed improperly and the sciatic nerves are not appropriately decompressed.

Even if the procedure is effective, you were probably cautioned that it might not completely relieve your back discomfort. So, it is unlikely that you will be able to receive compensation for any continued back pain.

Estimating damage

You need to be able to show that you sustained losses in order to launch a medical malpractice compensation claim.

The amount of compensation you should receive for any harm brought on by the improper treatment will be determined by the court as part of its decision. The value of your claim is what your adversary agrees to pay, or what the court determines if no agreement can be reached.

The amount paid for your pain, suffering, and “loss of amenity” (the inability to engage in activities you once loved) is known as general damages. Special damages, or your actual, quantifiable cash losses, are described in the next section. The costs of care you might need if you suffer a severe injury, modifications to your property to account for any loss of mobility, equipment, medical treatment and therapies, and any other financial losses that can be linked to the negligence may be considered special damages. Special damages may also include loss of earnings, both past and future, lost pension, and lost wages.

What a medical negligence compensation lawsuit can entitle you to

There are variations between every example of medical malpractice. There are, however, standards for how much compensation someone should get after making a claim. Therefore, depending on how serious the case was, you could receive anything from a few thousand pounds for minor complications like those brought on by a fracture that wasn’t properly diagnosed to millions of pounds for complicated cases like those involving severe birth injuries like cerebral palsy.

The best advise we can offer is to speak with a specialised lawyer about your claim as no lawyer should make a judgement about a claim’s value prior to knowing all the specifics of your case.

Most famous cases of medical malpractice

Even though we live in a time of significant medical advancements, grave medical errors claim a huge number of lives. According to recent estimates from independent research, between 200,000 and 400,000 persons each year in the United States pass away due to avoidable medical errors. Even then, millions of people would still be wounded or injured.

Why are these mistakes consistently occurring? Why do individuals die every day due to medical mistakes that could be avoided?

We may occasionally assist our medical professionals in improving safety and changing their practises by looking at some of the more well-known medical negligence cases, many of which were in the press. But when only subpar care is offered, nothing can be done. Some of these events are merely horrifying, leaving us to wonder how such dreadful medical errors could have been made.Below are just 12 of the most well-known recent medical malpractice cases:

1. Without getting a blood type

Among medical facilities, Duke University Hospital is a renowned and esteemed one. In 2003 it was the subject of national news when they performed a heart and lung transplant on 17 year-old Jesica Santilian without ever testing the blood type of the organ donors to determine if they matched.

This is a common medical practise. Jesica had serious brain damage following the organ transplant, and her body went into shock and shut down. Only after this did the medical staff understand that Jessica’s new organ donor did not have the same blood type as her.

To make matters worse, the hospital hid this error for 11 days before going public with its search for a new donor. By that time, Jesica had irreversible brain damage, therefore it was already too late. The hospital created a new mechanism to double-check transplants, and the doctor accepted responsibility for the error in order to stop it from happening again.

2. Wrong-side head surgery

In medicine, wrong site surgery is referred to as a “never event” because it is never intended to happen. Nonetheless, it still occurs alarmingly frequently today. By operating on three different patients’ skulls at the wrong spot in 2007, neurosurgeons at Rhode Island Hospital committed not one, but three grave medical errors.

Two of the errors were discovered in time to repair the initial holes and treat the proper side, but the 86-year-old patient who underwent the other surgery died. Contrary to popular belief, the surgeon’s medical licence was only revoked for two months. So much for physicians controlling themselves.

3. Removing the incorrect testicle

An Air Force veteran went for treatment for probable cancer of one testicle. At the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center, Benjamin Houghton underwent surgery to have his sick left testicle removed, but the doctors unintentionally took the right, healthy testicle.The surgeon failed to designate the correct side before doing the operation, which was where the medical error was discovered in the patient’s medical file. A medical malpractice lawsuit worth $20,000 was filed by Mr. Houghton and his wife against the VA Medical Center.

4. The wrong leg was amputated

52-year-old Willie King was scheduled to have a diseased leg amputated in 1995, but the procedure went horribly wrong. Instead, the erroneous one was removed by the surgeon. A succession of errors resulted in the wrong leg being amputated, as in many instances of wrong site surgery.

The operating room schedule, the hospital’s computer system, and a number of other crucial areas all had information about the wrong limb. Before the surgeon, Dr. Rolando Sanchez, entered the operating room, the crew had cleaned, sterilised, and prepared the incorrect limb for operation.

Afterwards, the doctor argued that both legs would need to be removed since they were unhealthy. He was hit with a $10,000 fine and had his medical licence suspended for six months. For $1.15 million, the lawsuits brought against the hospital and the physician were resolved.

5. Infant Born of a Different Race after Incorrect Sperm Was Used at a Fertility Clinic

When a couple seeking reproductive assistance discovered that the fertility clinic used sperm from another guy to fertilise their eggs, they were shocked.

New York Medical Services for Reproductive Medicine inserted another person’s sperm into Thomas and Nancy Andrews’ eggs during the in vitro fertilisation procedure. They had no idea till their baby was born in 2004. They immediately realised the baby’s skin was significantly darker than either Andrew’s.

Thomas was identified as the child’s biological father thanks to laboratory findings and DNA testing. The infant’s parents were both of a different race. The Andrews filed a lawsuit against the clinic’s proprietor as well as the embryologist who prepared the sperm and egg for insemination.

6. Misplaced Organ Removed

A patient underwent surgical removal of her gallbladder at Milford Regional Medical Center in Massachusetts in 2006. Instead, this 84-year-old woman had her right kidney removed by surgeon Patrick M. McEnaney.

Since McEnaney misread the lab tests, this happened. The state medical board put the surgeon on five years of probation.

7. Instrument Left After Tumor Removal

At Seattle’s University of Washington Medical Center in 2000, Donald Church underwent surgery. His abdominal tumour was going to be removed. The tumour was removed by the surgeons. Yet they left a 13-inch metal retractor in its stead.

It hurt for two months before the surgical error was found. Mr. Church was able to recover $97,000 in losses. While these blunders should never occur, this was the sixth occasion in five years where this particular hospital’s physicians had left surgical equipment in patients.

8. Wide awake patient during surgery

There are typically two forms of anaesthesia administered to patients during general anaesthesia during surgery. A paralytic is used to stop movement, and inhalation anaesthetic is used to stop pain and make someone unconscious.

Sherman Sizemore underwent surgery in 2006. While the paralytic, the first agent, was administered correctly, the second agent was not. That indicated that the patient was conscious, aware of everything, but paralysed and unable to move or talk.

This was discovered by the medical staff 16 minutes into the procedure. Sizemore had woken up. Altogether, the patient underwent conscious, uncomfortable surgery for almost 30 minutes. He was never informed of this error by the hospital. He couldn’t remember exactly what had happened, but he was aware that something was wrong because they had given him a medicine to induce amnesia after realising their error. Sizemore never had any psychological or mental issues, but suddenly he was having panic attacks and believed that he was being tried as a human sacrifice. He also experienced nightmares and insomnia. A few weeks after the procedure he committed suicide.

His experience of anaesthetic consciousness, which is thought to afflict 20,000 to 40,000 patients annually, appears to have contributed to his death. The family of Mr. Sizemore filed a lawsuit against Raleigh Anesthesia Associates in West Virginia because they failed to properly anaesthetize their father, which, in their opinion, led to his suicide. The dispute was resolved in private.

9. Woman Unnecessarily Loses Both Breasts

Darrie Eason, 35, underwent a double mastectomy on the recommendation of her doctor after learning she had breast cancer. After the operation in 2007, she discovered that there had been a lab mix-up by CBL Path and that she was not breast cancerous.

Even after getting a second opinion, the physician confirmed that Eason had cancer and advised her to have both breasts removed. Ms. Eason sued the facility and reached a $2.5 million settlement.

10. What is the Zorro Mark?

Via Caesarean section, Liana Gedz was about to deliver her first child. Dr. Allan Zarkin served as her physician at Beth Israel Hospital. But Gedz held a mirror to her stomach in a recovery room the day after having the birth that resulted in the delivery of a healthy girl, and she saw that Dr. Zarkin had inscribed his initials, A. Z., into her abdomen. Gedz said, “I feel like a branded animal.” That was a nightmare even though it was meant to be one of the most thrilling occasions in my life. Dr. Zarkin was immediately suspended by Beth Israel following the incident, and he later resigned. A $1.75 million settlement was reached in a lawsuit brought against Beth Israel, Dr. Zarkin, and New York Gyn/Ob Associates by dentist Dr. Gedz and her oral surgeon husband Robert Ghalili. Afterwards, Zarkin admitted to assault and received a probationary period as punishment.

11. Arturo Iturralde

the patient who had a screwdriver inserted in him, was scheduled to undergo back surgery that required placing titanium surgical rods in his spine. The rods that were intended to be put by his surgeon, Robert Ricketson, were nowhere to be seen. Dr. Ricketson pulled the handle from a screwdriver and inserted it into Mr. Iturralde’s back instead of getting the right rods or delaying this for another time. The screwdriver-style improvised rod broke after a few days.

This rendered his spine completely unstable and caused excruciating pain. After this fiasco, the patient needed more back surgery, and she passed away two years later. His estate sued the surgeon for malpractice and was awarded $5.6 million.

The only way the medical field can increase safety is through learning from these horrible errors. Regrettably, errors are more likely to happen now because of the status of medicine. Doctors are frequently compelled to spend less time with patients due to the profit incentive. Hospitals are seeing an increase in patients per nurse. More errors are made when personal care is lacking. When errors occur, it’s critical to take action right away before the healthcare professionals try to cover them up.

As soon as a medical error occurs, get in touch with a qualified medical malpractice solicitor. They can help you through the procedure and make up for these losses. Also, it will aid in avoiding such errors in the future.

12. Photographer loses his life due to an unmarked vial

Bob East, a distinguished photojournalist for the Miami Herald, received a corneal cancer diagnosis in 1985. He had to get his eye removed. East chose to have it donated to the medical school to utilise for medical students to study eye tumours. Someone participating in the procedure carried a vial containing the formaldehyde-like solution needed to preserve the eye for science into the operating room while he was having surgery to remove his eye at Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was previously removed from the patient by the surgeon and reinjected into his spine. Mr. East was given a formaldehyde injection instead of CSF, which left him brain dead. 5 days later, he passed away.

An examination revealed that the solution had rendered his organs inert. After the incident, the rules were changed to say that no unmarked vials could ever be carried into an operating room.