Medical Malpractice

April 13, 2010

Suffolk County Jury Awards $2.4 Million Massachusetts Medical Malpractice Verdict in Wrongful Death of College Basketball Player

A Massachusetts jury has awarded the parents of Antwoine Key $2.4 million for his Worcester wrongful death. The college basketball player died in 2005 after collapsing during the first quarter of a game at Worcester State College.

A Boston Doctor had examined the 22-year-old Eastern Connecticut State University student in 2001. According to the plaintiffs’ Boston medical malpractice lawyers, the doctor was supposed to determine whether Key was medically eligible to take part in college sports.

While examining Key at a Dorchester health center, the doctor discovered that there was a “slight systolic murmur” in his heart. Yet she signed a form clearing him to play sports. She noted that Key was in “excellent health” and did not impose any physical restrictions on him.

March 30, 2010

Boston Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Against Rebecca Riley’s Psychiatrist to Move Forward

by Altman & Altman

Now that Rebecca Riley’s parents have been convicted of her murder, the Boston wrongful death lawsuit accusing Dr. Kayoko Kifuji of Massachusetts psychiatric malpractice will move forward. Rebecca, 4, died after her parents overmedicated her with psychotropic drugs.

The drugs were prescribed by Kifuji who, in exchange for immunity, testified at the criminal trials of Carolyn and Michael Riley. During Michael’s trial, Kifuji said that she does not question the diagnosis she made that Rebecca, then 2, was suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and bipolar disorder.

Kifuji said her diagnosis was based primarily on Carolyn’s accounts of her daughter’s conduct. The psychiatrist prescribed Depakote and clonidine for Rebecca. She had prescribed the same drugs to Rebecca’s two older siblings, who were diagnosed with the same conditions.

March 5, 2010

Family’s Boston, Massachusetts Wrongful Death Suit Alleges Cosmetic Surgery Malpractice

by Altman & Altman

In Middlesex Superior Court, family of Donna Ames has filed a Massachusetts wrongful death lawsuit seeking damages for plastic surgery malpractice. Ames, 49, died last July while trying to get a face lift. The family’s wrongful death lawyers claim that the procedure killed her.

Ames paid $4,700 for the elective procedure, which was supposed to be an outpatient surgery that should have lasted only an hour. However, after she was administered a local anesthesia, she began to experience what may have been adverse side effects. The oxygen in her blood dropped and her body started to violently jerk around. She was already brain dead by the time the ambulance was called.

According to Ames’ Boston cosmetic surgery malpractice lawyer, there was no anesthesiologist present during Ames’ procedure, and no one had connected her to any monitoring equipment. He says that the staff therefore had no way of determining how much oxygen she was getting. They called the ambulance 48 minutes after giving Ames her first injection.

January 4, 2010

Mother’s Massachusetts Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Accuses Springfield Hospital of Sterilizing Her Without Consent

by Altman & Altman

A mother is suing Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, three doctors, and two nurses for Massachusetts medical malpractice. Tessa Savicki says that the defendants violated her reproductive rights when they permanently sterilized her without her consent. Savicki, 35, has nine children.

Savicki says that after giving birth to Manuel Flores on December 19, 2006, a medical team performed a tubal ligation, which is a permanent procedure, instead of implanting an intrauterine device, which is a birth control procedure that can be reversed. She says that the permanent procedure left her mentally distressed and upset that she can no longer have more children.

Savicki says the defendants did not have a medical reason for performing the permanent sterilization. She also claims that never signed a written consent for the procedure, which is required for MassHealth patients.

December 21, 2009

$15 Million Boston Medical Malpractice Award: Jury Holds Doctors Accountable for Massachusetts Wrongful Death of 3-Year-Old Treated for Birth Defect

by Altman & Altman

Five years after 3-year-old Jason Fox’s death, a Suffolk County jury has awarded his parents $15 million in Massachusetts medical malpractice damages: $5 million for wrongful death, $5 million for the boy’s pain and suffering, and $5 million for the loss of their child. The family’s attorney, James Fox, said fighting the case was an “uphill battle.”

Jason, who was born with Tetralogy of Fallot, died in December 2004 after undergoing a procedure at Children’s Hospital in Boston a year and a half earlier to treat his birth defect. The serious defect, which was treatable, prevented his limbs and organs from receiving enough oxygen.

Jason underwent seven cardiac catheterizations and open heart surgery. During his second catheterization in April 2003, Jason had a seizure. The contrast dye, which allowed doctors to better see his anatomy, went into his brain.

December 4, 2009

Father Sues Harvard for Massachusetts Wrongful Death After Student who was Prescribed Medication Commits Suicide

by Altman & Altman

The father of John Edwards, a Harvard sophomore who committed suicide in 2007, is suing the university and a nurse and supervisor at the school’s Health Services for Massachusetts wrongful death and medical malpractice. John B. Edwards II filed his Boston medical malpractice lawsuit in Middlesex Superior Court.

The elder Edwards is accusing Dr. Georgia Ede of failing to properly supervise nurse practitioner Marianne Cannon, who prescribed three drugs to his son even though she doesn’t have physician training. Cannon prescribed the amphetamine Adderall, a drug for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, to the younger Edwards even though he was never diagnosed with this condition. She later prescribed Wellbutrin and Prozac, two strong antidepressants. Edwards was also taking Accutane, an acne drug that is linked to thoughts of suicide.

The US Food and Drug Administration has cautioned that patients who are prescribed Accutane, Wellbutrin, or Prozac should be closely observed in case they begin to have suicidal thoughts.

October 20, 2009

Boston Wrongful Death Settlement Reached over Dorchester Woman’s Fatal Fall from Operating Table

by Altman & Altman

A Massachusetts wrongful death settlement agreement has been reached between Boston Medical Center and the family of Catherine O’Donnell. The 86-year-old woman died on October 13, 2007 a week after she fell while being readied for transfer from an operating room table to her hospital bed.

O’Donnell sustained a massive head injury during the Boston fall accident. Last year, her family filed a Boston wrongful death lawsuit against the teaching hospital. In their Boston medical malpractice complaint, O’Donnell’s family accused operating room staffers of failing to provide the expected standard of care to O’Donnell and that this resulted in her fatal fall accident. The plaintiffs contend that the medical team was too busy and preoccupied when moving the elderly patient. They also take issue with how they were first told that the hip surgery was a success and were then notified about O’Donnell’s head injury.

Anesthesiologist resident Dr. Carlos Guzman, orthopedic resident Dr. John Pryor, and nurses Ingrid Rush and Harvinder Miller are among the defendants named in the Boston wrongful death lawsuit.

May 15, 2009

Could Long Waits to Visit Boston Doctors Lead to Delayed Diagnosis?

by Altman & Altman

According to the Boston Globe, a recent study reveals that patients seeking nonurgent appointments with Boston medical specialists may have to wait anywhere from an average of 50 days to up to a year before they can actually see the doctor. While delays to see some of the area’s top medical professionals are not uncommon, doctors say a 2006 health insurance law that required hundreds of thousands of people to get insurance coverage has only added to the long wait.

Consulting and physician recruiting firm Merritt, Hawkins & Associates conducted the study, which surveyed 1,162 doctors’ office in 15 metropolitan areas. According to the findings, new patients wanting to schedule a non-emergency visit with an orthopedic surgeon, a dermatologist, a family practitioner, a cardiologist, or a gynecologist/obstetrician had to schedule their visit at least three weeks in advance of the actual visit or longer.

Reasons for nonurgent visits that required this type of wait time included gynecological visits, complete physicals, and appointments to check for skin cancer. The survey failed to report whether the appointment delays affected patients’ health or chances of recovery. Regardless, there are some important facts you need to know about what can happen when a patient’s diagnosis is delayed.

Delayed Diagnosis
While many patients may have health issues that are non-life threatening or conditions that are mild or minor enough that delayed diagnosis and treatment won’t affect their health or the outcome of their medical cases, immediate detection and diagnosis can make a huge difference for some people.

Delayed diagnosis can not only affect a sick person’s prognosis, but it can alter the kinds of treatment required. If a person is at the beginning stages of a heart condition, any type of cancer, diabetes, or another kind of disease, then invasive, painful, and costly procedures (such as surgery, the removal of a breast or another body part, or intense chemotherapy) may be avoided if treatment is begun early enough.

Wrong diagnosis and delayed diagnosis are two common grounds for filing Boston medical malpractice lawsuits against medical specialists and other physicians that failed to diagnose or treat the patient in a timely manner.

Waits to see Hub doctors grow longer, Boston.com, May 15, 2009
Related Web Resources:
Merritt Hawkins and Associates

Wrong Diagnosis
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April 27, 2009

Massachusetts Medical Malpractice Lawsuit To Be Filed By Family of Worcester Man Made to Walk Down Stairs by Paramedics

by Altman & Altman

In Massachusetts, the family of Charles F. Rondeau is considering filing a Massachusetts medical malpractice lawsuit for his wrongful death. Rondeau died on May 11, 2008.

UMass Memorial EMS paramedics arrived at his home after he complained that he wasn’t feeling well. The two paramedics walked him down three flights of stairs. He died three hours later from a massive heart attack.

Rondeau’s family filed a complaint asking why the 48-year-old, who had a history of heart disease and was having serious problems breathing and experiencing chest pains, was even made to walk down such steep steps. After conducting an investigation into the incident, Massachusett’s Department of Public Health made some disturbing discoveries.

April 9, 2009

Massachusetts Hospitals Racked Up Over 300 Medical Mistakes, Including Fall Accidents, Medication Errors, and Surgical Malpractice, In 2008

by Altman & Altman

According to Massachusetts health officials, 338 medical mistakes occurred in hospitals throughout the state last year. Many of these errors could have been avoided. The findings are part of a study that documents “serious reportable events” in 2008.

Breakdown of the 338 serious reportable incidents occurring in Massachusetts hospitals last year:

• Fall accidents: 224 • Retained foreign objects: 32 • Wrong site: 24 • Serious bedsores: 12 • Medication mistakes: 12 • Sexual assault: 11 • Burn accidents: 6 • Incorrect procedure: 5 • Device or product malfunction: 3 • Attempted suicide or suicide: 3 • Air embolism: 2 • Restraint/bedrail incidents: 1 • Maternal death/disability: 1 • Hyperbilirubinemia in newborn: 1 • Wrong patient: 1
19 hospital fatalities were linked to these kinds of incidents. Nationally, about 90,000 fatalities a year can be attributed to hospital mistakes. The hospital that racked up the most incidents was St. Vincent Hospital, located in Worcester.

The five hospitals with the most events for 10,000 patient days:

• Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary • Fairview Hospital • Martha’s Vineyard Hospital
• St Vincent Hospital, Worcester • Nashoba Valley Medical Center, Ayer
Public Health regulators are quick to caution that consumers shouldn’t think of these results as a quality report card and to consider there may appear to be more serious reportable incidents at certain hospitals because some medical care centers may be more (or less) conscientious about documenting such events.

Some of the hospitals that have been noted for their quantity of serious reportable incidents have been making efforts to remedy the situation. The Department of Public Health began requiring Massachusetts hospitals to report any of 28 adverse medical events beginning January 1, 2008. For example, both St. Vincent Hospital and Norwood Hospital have implemented new measure to prevent fall accidents.

Hospital patient mishaps top 300, Boston.com, April 9, 2009
DPH report reveals hundreds of hospital errors, BostonHerald.com, April 8, 2008

Related Web Resources:
Massachusetts Department of Public Health

To read the full report, Mass.gov Continue reading