Former Inmate Sues York Correctional Institution for Women for Traumatic Brain Injury

 Medical Malpractice, Negligence  Comments Off on Former Inmate Sues York Correctional Institution for Women for Traumatic Brain Injury
Jun 092016
 

Amy Rolon, who served time in prison for charges of 6th-degree larceny, has filed a $7.5-million claim for medical neglect against the Department of Correction (DOC) due to a traumatic brain injury she sustained while under the custody of York Correctional Institution in Niantic, Connecticut in 2014.

According to incident reports, Rolon repeatedly fell and hit her head during her struggles against heroin withdrawal, which lasted for about 2 days. In a very compelling surveillance video reviewed by supervisor Christopher Brunelle, Rolon is seen falling out of her wheelchair while staff members are just walking by and ignoring to provide assistance. Brunelle writes in his report:

“Inmate crawls out of cell on hands and knees as staff are walking towards her … [Two correction officers] walk past the inmate. Both officers staring at the inmate as they walk past and exit the unit …

“Inmate attempts to get into wheelchair by herself. Staff do not assist.

“Inmate falls out of wheelchair and onto the floor … (E)veryone watches. No staff attempt to help her up.”

Also, those who shared the cell with Rolon from October 30 to 31, 2014 reported to had repeatedly called for medical attention, as they watched Rolon stagger in and out of the bathroom, and then fall and sprawl on the floor. Though she then received methadone and other medications several times from nurses, it was not until the morning of November 1 that she received sustained medical attention after experiencing a violent seizure, with her mouth filling with blood from biting her own tongue. Also, all of these things occurred despite a court order stating that Rolon required detoxification and immediate medical attention upon being admitted to the correctional facility on October 30, 2014.

It took several hours until a psychologist recommended for Rolon to be checked at a hospital, and by the time she was sent to the Lawrence & Memorial Hospital emergency room in New London, she was already found to be in critical condition. She was then transferred to the Yale-New Haven Hospital ICU, where she received surgery for swelling and bleeding of the brain.

As a result of this incident, four officers at the correctional facility have been suspended and two nurses who worked for the Correctional Managed Health Care unit at UConn Health resigned, according to the correctional facility’s officials. Such a medical unit is aid to be holding a controversial, no-bid contract (worth more than $80 million a year) with the DOC to deliver mental and medical services to inmates.

According to Scott Semple, the Correction Commissioner, there was truly a violation to the protocol in the Rolon case, viewing it as a situation that is isolated to the staff members who are being suspended. After learning about how serious Rolon’s injuries were, York supervisors ordered an investigation at the scene where the incident happened, calling on state police investigators to document the chain of events.

Rolon, who is now a 38-year-old mother of five children, is partially paralyzed and is severely cognitively impaired. Needing constant care, she is residing at the Grandview Rehabilitation and Nursing Center.

 

Reference

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-inmate-prison-medical-neglect-0520-20160519-story.html

 Posted by at 3:20 pm

Physicians Sued for Bowel Injury Resulting from Partial Nephrectomy

 Medical Malpractice  Comments Off on Physicians Sued for Bowel Injury Resulting from Partial Nephrectomy
Jan 092016
 

A woman, who is 71 years old, underwent an open partial nephrectomy on her right kidney, and during the operation, the surgeon used electrocautery. But a week later, she was taken back to the emergency room due to abdominal pain. The ER physicians then spoke to the original surgeon and residents who gave the nephrectomy to the patient and learned of the use of electrocautery, and then suspected a bowel injury. They then gave her an emergency surgery to resect the injury on her small bowel.

She was discharged after 5 days, but then returned again a couple of days later, as she was still suffering from abdominal pain, and this time nausea and vomiting as well. It was then when she was diagnosed with a partial bowel obstruction, causing her to remain in the hospital for 5 days more. Apart from this, she had 2 additional operations within 2 months.

Because of the circumstances she have gone through, the patient sued the physicians involved with the nephrectomy, alleging the doctors neglected to treat the bowel injury during the initial operation. Her claim includes the doctors knowing of the injury at the time, but failed to tell her family about the injury, failed to take appropriate measures to treat it and failed to document the injury in their report or any medical record. She argued that their failure to treat the original injury made her suffer from life-threatening injuries, subsequently.

The defendants did not dispute her claims, but questioned whether they related to the original operation and the severity and mulled over the frequency of her complaints. As for the jury’s judgment, they awarded the patient with $1.1 million in total damages and $199,000 in interest, totaling nearly $1.3 million.

 

Cases That Can Lead to Medical Personal Injury Lawsuit

A special kind of personal injury, medical malpractice is brought against hospitals, doctors, nurses, emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and other medical personnel. This is a form of professional malpractice that applies only when a person is injured during some form of medical treatment or care. People who suffer from an injury due to this malpractice could hold the medical providers responsible for it under special rules that apply to this kind of professional negligence.

However, a victim could only hold the provider responsible if he or she can prove even one of the essential elements of a medical malpractice claim. These are: a) the health care provider had a duty to the patient; b) there was a breach of duty; c) some kind of harm was caused directly by breach of duty; and d) the injury may be compensated. If any of these elements are not present, then the victim may not make a malpractice claim.

Like any other personal injury case, the burden to prove the case will be on the plaintiff, and the doctor will not have to prove he was not. The standard of proof that will be used in assessing whether a plaintiff has proven his or her case is the evidence standard preponderance.

 

Reference

http://urologytimes.modernmedicine.com/urology-times/news/partial-nephrectomy-results-bowel-injury-lawsuit

 

 Posted by at 12:04 pm

Indianapolis VA Sued

 Medical Malpractice  Comments Off on Indianapolis VA Sued
May 142014
 

A 10-year veteran of the Marine Corps is suing an Indianapolis VA hospital for “medical battery” and unspecified damages. This on the heels of the investigation into the Veteran’s Administration hospital in Phoenix, AZ.

According to the IndyStar, “Tony Yeary had trouble urinating, so he went to see a doctor at the Roudebush Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Indianapolis.

“What happened once he got there in May 2012 is recounted, in gruesome detail, in a lawsuit that the 60-year-old Marine Corps veteran filed against the VA last week in federal court in Indianapolis.

“The Indianapolis resident’s lawsuit describes a medical experience with scenes that harken to medieval times. Little or no painkillers used during a painful medical procedure. Brute force from doctors trying to insert objects in a body cavity. A blood-spattered patient left to fend for himself.”

 

 Posted by at 5:29 pm

South Carolina Hospital Charged in Baby Gender Lawsuit

 Medical Malpractice  Comments Off on South Carolina Hospital Charged in Baby Gender Lawsuit
May 152013
 

In South Carolina a hospital is being charge with irreversibly changing the gender of a baby. The lawsuit is being brought forward by the advocacy group, Southern Poverty Law Center and Advocates for Informed Choice.

According to Advocate.com, “The 16-month-old child, identified as M.C., was born with an intersex condition, where the child’s reproductive or sexual anatomy does not fit typical male or female classification. Most children with these conditions eventually develop as male or female, but M.C.’s phallus was removed in an attempt to make the child a girl, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center and Advocates for Informed Choice …

“… At the time of the surgery, M.C. was under the state’s care but living with guardians. The lawsuit charges that the doctors performed medical malpractice by failing to provide adequate information before proceeding with the surgery. M.C.’s guardians reportedly were not made aware of the significant risks of the surgery or the alternative of not having surgery at all. Currently, doctors and advocates recommend that intersex children be assigned a gender at birth, but are encouraged to hold off on any unnecessary surgery until they are old enough to self-identify with a gender.”

 Posted by at 3:48 pm

Man Gets $2 Million in Colonoscopy Lawsuit

 Medical Malpractice  Comments Off on Man Gets $2 Million in Colonoscopy Lawsuit
Oct 242011
 

A Philadelphia jury decided that two doctors were at fault and rewarded a 62-year-old man $2 million in a colonoscopy gone wrong case. According to the case, the man had perforations in his colon due to the initial colonoscopy and the follow up colonoscopy.

The jury decided that the doctors had overinflated the patient’s colon and as a result had to remove over 24-inches of his lower intestine in this medical malpractice case.

According to post-gazette.com, “A 12-member Philadelphia jury deliberated for eight hours over two days before finding this month that Michael Resnick, who performed the colonoscopy on Richard McCade, was 60 percent negligent for Mr. McCade’s perforated colon and resulting surgeries. The jury found Lawrence M. Wald was 40 percent negligent for allegedly further perforating Mr. McCade’s colon during follow-up procedures to fix subsequent complications from the initial tear.”

Because of the perforations, the patient had to seek emergency care on two different occasions. The initial CT scan showed no perforation, but a CT scan a few days later confirmed that there was a perforation in the patient’s colon.

 Posted by at 5:27 pm

Mother Sues Hospital Over Son’s Staph Infection Death

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Oct 312007
 

In New York, the mother of a 12-year-old boy who went to Bedford-Stuyvesant elementary school, is suing the local hospital over the death of her son. According to the allegations, emergency room doctors at the Kings County Hospital were negligent in failing to diagnose a serious staph infection known as MRSA.

The doctors gave the child Benadryl and sent him home with his mother. The mother is suing for $25 million on the heals of what may be a localized outbreak of this kind of infection. Unconfirmed reports also state that a couple other students at different local schools have also been infected.

 Posted by at 1:02 pm

Family Settles for $1.775 Million in Medication Error Lawsuit

 Medical Malpractice  Comments Off on Family Settles for $1.775 Million in Medication Error Lawsuit
Mar 272007
 

A Rock Hill, South Carolina woman has settled in a $1.775 million lawsuit with Piedmont Medical Center, when doctors at the center administered the wrong drugs during a second heart bypass surgery. According to the medication error lawsuit, Lidocaine was mistakenly given to Herbert Cogan before surgery instead of Hespan.

Mr. Cogan died within minutes of receiving the wrong medication according to the lawsuit. The hospital had also been charged with a cover-up as Mr. Cogan’s original death certificate stated that he died of natural causes. Mr. Cogan’s body was later exhumed and the cause of death was stated as death due to cardiac arrest brought on by receiving incorrect medication.

 Posted by at 1:38 pm

Walter Reed Hospital May Face Future Lawsuits

 Medical Malpractice, Negligence  Comments Off on Walter Reed Hospital May Face Future Lawsuits
Mar 082007
 

While it is not easy to sue the government, litigation over conditions at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in the future, is indeed possible. President Bush called the conditions at Walter Reed an example of medical negligence. Others have used stronger terms to declare the deplorable conditions at the hospital.

Major General George Weightman was fired last week as commander of Walter Reed as news reports surfaced about black mold, rats and peeling paint within the facility. Bureaucratic red tape, overwhelmed and under trained staff and failure to inform higher ups in authority have been blamed for the unacceptable conditions.

President Bush has signed an executive order to create a bipartisan commission to review conditions at Walter Reed and other similar facilities nationwide. It remains to be seen how many Walter Reed lawsuits will be filed in the weeks and months to come as the investigation unfolds.

 Posted by at 11:23 am