A woman has won a $6.4 million Massachusetts medical malpractice verdict in court. Kimberly Monson, a Blackstone resident, claims that her doctor neglected to treat her properly when she developed a potentially dangerous condition when she was pregnant and as a result, suffered brain damage. Her medical malpractice lawsuit named…
According to the Emergency Care Research Institute, out of the 50 million medical operations that take place in the US, about 600 of them result in accidental surgical fires. The outcome can be catastrophic for the patient, who may sustain serious burn injuries. According to the Bostonchannel.com, one woman sustained…
A $350,000 wrongful death settlement has been reached between the federal government and the family of a US marine reserve corporal who was refused care at the Veterans Administration hospital in Leeds, Massachusetts. Marine Reserve Corporal Jeffrey Lucey hanged himself in June 2004. According to his family, the 23-year-old soldier…
In Salem Superior Court, a jury awarded the family of Priscilla Jardine $2 million for her wrongful death. Jardine died on February 26, 2004 soon after giving birth to a baby girl during an emergency cesarean section. The jury issued its Massachusetts wrongful death verdict after finding that Jardine’s obstetrician,…
Researchers from Harvard say that operating room deaths and medical complications are decreased by 1/3rd whenever nurses and doctors follow a 19-step checklist before, during, and after the surgical procedure. Their findings come from a international study involving eight hospitals. All of the hospitals found that medical complications went down…
Dennis and Kimberly Quaid have reached a $750,000 medical malpractice settlement agreement with the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for the medication error that nearly killed their twin infants last year. Zoe Grace and Thomas Boone Quaid were accidentally administered 1,000 times the recommended dose of heparin, a blood thinner. The medication…
According to the Massachusetts Medical Society, many physicians in the state are so afraid that patients will sue them for medical malpractice that they order unnecessary procedures, hospital stays, tests, and referrals just to prevent lawsuits from happening. Their “defensive medicine” practices are reportedly causing healthcare costs in Massachusetts to…
In Boston, Massachusetts, a Suffolk Superior Court jury awarded the family of Amy Altman $13.5 million for her wrongful death. Altman died in July 2003 after undergoing a cycle of experimental chemotherapy to treat her cancer. The 40-year-old mother of two young girls, who sought treatment at the Dana-Farber Cancer…
Key evidence in the Massachusetts medical malpractice case filed by a woman who went blind after undergoing sinus surgery at Cape Code Hospital has disappeared. The medical malpractice trial is slated to begin next week. The missing evidence consists of absorbent gauze, sutures, and a latex glove finger that were…
The Joint Commission, a US hospital accreditation group, is trying to get healthcare facilities, including hospitals and nursing homes, to prevent angry outbursts by doctors. There is concern that swearing, throwing objects, and yelling can increase the chances that a medical mistake will occur. Beginning January 1, 2009, the independent…