Articles Posted in Medical Malpractice

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 Dr. Elizabeth Konig and the obstetrician’s former medical practice, Dedham Medical Associates, as defendants.

Monson was 38-years-old and 35 weeks pregnant with her second child when she saw Konig. Monson was experiencing preeclampsia, which affects pregnant woman and can result in high blood pressure.

Preeclampsia is treatable but Monson contends that because Konig neglected to treat her condition correctly, it became so serious that Monson experienced brain bleed. Her baby, fortunately, was delivered safely.

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 second- and third-degree burns on her face, eyes, nose, mouth, and back when a surgical fire broke out while she was undergoing a tracheotomy. Her injuries prevented her from eating, walking, or talking. Meantime, in Massachusetts, there has been one surgical fire since 2007.

Surgical Fires
Surgical fires occur when oxygen is flowing and a spark is created by a surgical tool that can cause anything flammable to catch fire. If the flammable item is close to the patient, it can cause the nasal canula or mask to ignite as if it were struck by a blowtorch. This may explain why these fires appear to have a greater chance of happening during neck and head procedures that require heat, air, and fuel to be in close proximity.

According to safety advocates, there are ways that operating room fires can be prevented. The patient or doctor may opt for less or no oxygen to be used during the procedure. Non-alcohol based skin preparations can also be used.

According to Surgicalfires.org, some of the fuels that are often encountered during surgical procedures include:

• GI tract gases • Human hair • Alcohol • Degreasers • Tinctures • Gauze • Adhesive tape • Sponges • Surgical gowns and masks • Ointments • Paraffin • Anesthesia components • Gloves • Smoke evacuator hoses
The hospital and surgical team are required to make sure that a surgical patient is not exposed to any hazards before, during, or after a surgical procedure that can cause injury or death. Failure to exercise this duty of care can be grounds for a Massachusetts medical malpractice lawsuit.

Surgical Fires Rare, But Catastrophic, WCVBTV, March 16, 2009
Surgical Fire

Related Web Resources:
Fires during surgeries a bigger risk than thought, Boston.com, November 7 2007
Medical Malpractice Overview, Justia Continue reading

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 from 11% to 7% with the checklist, while patient deaths went down from 1.5% to 0.8%.

According to Brigham and Women’s Hospital surgeon Dr. Atul Gawande, who is also the Harvard School of Public Health paper’s senior author, using a surgical checklist doesn’t cause unnecessary delays. Instead, it can decrease medical mistakes.

The study can be found on the New England Journal of Medicine’s Web site. A number of hospitals have already adopted the 19-step checklist because of the study’s findings. The checklist is influenced by the World Health Organization’s guidelines and takes just a couple of minutes to fill out. The list includes verbal steps for staff to follow before administering anesthesia to a patient, performing an incision, and moving the patient out of the operating room.

Steps include:

• Confirming that an anesthesia safety check was conducted • Making sure surgical team members have met each other • Talking about any concerns anyone might have about the procedure or the patient • Confirming that no surgical tools were left inside the patient
The Massachusetts Hospital Association and the Institute of Healthcare Improvement in Cambridge are calling on Massachusetts hospitals to use this surgical checklist.

Surgical Malpractice
Surgical malpractice is grounds for a Massachusetts medical malpractice claim or wrongful death lawsuit. Surgeons, nurses, and other surgical staff in the operating room are supposed to make sure that no mistakes that can cause injury or death are made before, during, or after an operation.

Safety list cuts surgery deaths, Boston.com, January 15, 2009
Surgical Safety Checklist (PDF)

Related Web Resources:

New England Journal of Medicine

Massachusetts Hospital Association
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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 increase by at least $1.4 billion each year.

The society also noted that this financial figure is likely an underestimation of the problem because only 900 doctors took party in the survey, accounting for just 46% of all Massachusetts doctors. Family doctors, general surgeons, obstetricians, and gynecologists were among the physicians who took part in the survey.

One doctor, former medical society president Alan Woodward, said the study results clearly show the need to change the system so that doctors can admit that they’ve made medical errors and injured patients can be fairly compensated in arbitration. Woodward noted that unnecessary tests, such as image testing, could expose patients to unnecessary injuries, such as allergic reactions to dyes, radiation exposure, biopsy complications, and infections.

38% of the physicians who took part in the survey noted that their fear of becoming a defendant in a medical malpractice lawsuit caused them to reduce the number of high-risk procedures they perform. 28% of the doctors surveyed said that fear of liability often affected the kind of care they provided patients. In the Journal of the American Medical Associaton, a 2005 survey found that 93% of US doctors practiced defensive medicine.

Medical Malpractice
In most cases, medical care is supposed to help a patient get better or prevent him or her from getting worse. If you believe that you or you loved one’s injuries or worsened condition are a result of errors made by a Massachusetts doctor, nurse, medical technician, or another medical provider, you need to consider your legal options. Massachusetts physicians owe all patients a duty of care. Failure to provide that care is negligence and can be grounds for a medical malpractice or wrongful death lawsuit.

Doctors’ fear of lawsuits tied to added costs of $1.4b, Boston.com, November 18, 2008
MMS First-of-its-kind Survey of Physicians Shows Extent and Cost of the Practice of Defensive Medicine and its Multiple Effects of Health Care on the State, Massachusetts Medical Society, November 17, 2008
Wasted Medical Dollars, USA Today, April 23, 2008
Related Web Resources:

Massachusetts Medical Society

Defensive Medicine Report, Massachusetts Medical Society (PDF)
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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 involved in the surgical malpractice incident. Plaintiff Jeannine Cullen underwent sinus surgery at the hospital in November 2001.

During the procedure, the packing material was inserted in Cullen’s throat and experienced a loss of oxygen that eventually resulted in her loss of vision. The packing material, considered key evidence in the case, was being held in a safe in the hospital’s Pathology Department.

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 group is requiring health care facilities to adopt a “zero tolerance” policy toward this behavior. Codes of conduct to encourage staff members to report bad behavior will be included.

According to the Joint Commission’s Chief Patient Safety Officer Dr Peter Angood, many healthcare facilities are worried that if they upset the doctors, they will take their patients to other facilities.

A Boston Globe article published on Sunday discusses behavior referred to as “medical road rage.” In one incident at North Shore Medical Center in Salem, an orthopedic surgeon threw a pair of scissors that wouldn’t cut properly and almost hit a nurse. While many hospitals have tolerated medical road rage from leading surgeons who are significant moneymakers, the hospital disciplined the doctor and introduced a policy making it mandatory for doctors to treat coworkers with “civility and respect.”

At St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, one orthopedic surgeon yelled at colleagues for six years before an incident involving him throwing two 10-pound sandbags, one of which struck a nurse’s foot, lead to his suspension (after 9 complaints). The hospital now requires that a medical executive committee evaluate a case once a medical professional has been reported three times for “outburst” incidents.

Hospitals try to calm doctors’ outbursts, Boston.com, August 10, 2008
Group tries to quell doctors’ bad behavior, UPI.com,

Related Web Resource:

The Joint Commission

In Massachusetts, please contact our Boston medical malpractice law firm if you or someone you love was injured because of a health care provider’s negligent, careless, or reckless actions.
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