California Injury Lawyers Blog

A Pomona Superior Court has awarded the family of Jessica Ramirez a $12 million Los Angeles County medical malpractice verdict in their case against Greater El Monte Community Hospital. Ramirez, 22, has a traumatic brain injury that has left her in a persistent vegetative state. She now resides in a North Hollywood nursing home and requires round-the-clock care.

On September 4, 2007, Ramirez sustained an air-rifle pellet to the brain. However, following the air gun shooting, she was still conscious and could ask for help.

Her family contends that after seeking medical help at Greater El Monte Community Hospital, Ramirez was allowed to remain at the facility before she was flown to a Pasadena hospital for surgery to remove the pellet. According to the family's Los Angeles medical malpractice lawyer, Greater El Monte Community Hospital were delayed in both evaluating her condition and transferring her to Huntington hospital after x-ray results showed that the pellet had entered her brain. He claims that the medical delays caused Ramirez to sustain a traumatic brain injury and she may have had a better medical outcome if only surgery was performed sooner.

The defendant in the Los Angeles medical malpractice lawsuit is hospital owner AHMC Healthcare, Inc. The award consists of $10.6 million for future medical care, $1 million for pain and suffering, and $373,000 for past medical bills. Ramirez's mom says the award will allow her to bring her daughter home.

The verdict is being appealed.

Los Angeles Medical Malpractice
It is so important that medical professionals conduct their exams, make the correct diagnosis, and perform the proper procedure in a timely manner. In many cases, sooner rather than later can make the difference between life and death and between non-aggressive treatment and painful, invasive, lengthy treatments. Doctors, surgeons, emergency room workers, paramedics, anesthesiologists, and other medical professionals cannot afford to make mistakes. Otherwise, they can be sued for Orange County, California medical malpractice.

Jury finds El Monte hospital negligent, family awarded $12 million, SGVTribune.com, February 11, 2010

Jury awards $12 million to woman with brain injury, WTOP, February 12, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Greater El Monte Community Hospital

Traumatic Brain Injury

More than six years after Trent Hughes sustained a spinal cord injury in an accident that left him a paraplegic, a Riverside County jury has awarded a $16.5 million California medical malpractice verdict to him and his wife Lisa in their personal injury case against neurosurgeon Christopher Pham.

Trent, who at the time was 41, began experiencing numbness in his toes and feet, as well as excruciating pain in his lower back while on an off-road vehicle excursion on November 2, 2003. He was flown to a Palm Springs, California where, at about 2pm, he was diagnosed with a spine fracture.

Hospital records indicate that Pham, who was on call, was supposed to arrive at the Emergency Room within 20 minutes after he was contacted to assess the extent of Trent's injuries. However, he didn't see the patient until the following afternoon. Also, Pham did not perform the surgery to decompress Trent's spinal cord until the day after that one.

The couple's Riverside County medical malpractice lawsuit contends that by the time Pham conducted the surgery, Trent's spinal cord injury had become irreversible and, as a result, he is now paralyzed.

Before the accident, the Hughes, who are former high school sweethearts, ran a successful air conditioning business. Following Trent's catastrophic injuries, they lost their business.

The jury's verdict against Pham comes after a re-trial. A verdict issued by a jury after the case was tried in January 2004 was overturned because of defense counsel misconduct during their closing. The couple has already settled their medical malpractice claim against Desert Regional Medical Center.

The $16.5 million Riverside County medical malpractice verdict includes damages for medical expenses, rehabilitative costs, loss of consortium, pain and suffering, and lost income.

Surgical Errors
Surgical mistakes, delayed surgeries, wrong site surgeries, and accidentally leaving a medical instrument or another object in the patient following surgery are surgical errors that can be grounds for California medical malpractice. These are not errors that can be fixed easily. In some cases, medical mistakes can prove catastrophic for the patient.

Riverside jury awards Arizona couple $16.5 million in medical malpractice suit, Los Angeles Times, February 3, 2010

Former valley doctor found negligent, Mydesert.com, February 2, 2010

The California Department of Health has fined 13 hospitals in the state for committing medical mistakes. Some of the medical errors caused serious patient injury and deaths. Among the Southern California hospitals that were fined:

Hoag Memorial Hospital: A patient at this Newport Beach hospital sustained fractures to her foot and leg in January 2009 when she was sucked in by an MRI machine while on a metal gurney. The fine for this error is $50,000. This is the third penalty against the hospital in two years.

Western Medical Center: This Santa Ana hospital was fined $50,000 for leaving a surgical sponge in a patient. She became ill and had to be operated on a second time.

St. Jude Medical Center: A patient at this Fullerton hospital died in the emergency room from a heart attack after nurses failed to realize that the heart monitor had become disconnected. The Orange County, California hospital was fined $50,000.

Los Angeles Community Hospital: A patient who should have been properly supervised and restrained died after he was left alone and he pulled out his tracheotomy tube. The Norwalk hospital was fined $50,000.

California Hospital Medical Center: This Los Angeles County hospital was fined $50,000 because a medical resident n the ER wrongly diagnosed a woman as having an ectopic pregnancy. She was not pregnant.

John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital: The Riverside County hospital was ordered to pay four $25,000 fines for not properly monitoring patients and meds in 2008.

California Medical Malpractice
Medical mistakes are not errors that doctors, nurses, surgeons, anesthesiologists, emergency room physicians, or other medical professionals can afford to make. Wrong diagnosis, surgical mistakes, failure to properly supervise a patient or monitor his/her vitals are some of the reasons that people file Orange County, California medical malpractice lawsuit.

13 California hospitals fined for medical errors, Los Angeles Times, January 28, 2010

California Department of Health

Related Web Resources:
Medical Malpractice, Nolo

Types of Medical Mistakes, Wrong Diagnosis

Continue reading "California Fines 13 Hospitals for Medical Mistakes" »

Anaheim obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Andrew Rutland could be facing temporary suspension from practicing medicine. Rutland allegedly was negligent when he administered an unsafe dosage of lidocaine to a 30-year-old woman who was about to undergo a second-trimester abortion. Soon after the patient was injected with the local anesthesia, she began to experience a reaction.

Rutland performed CPR on her. According to California Medical Board documents, there was a "significant" delay in contacting 911. By the time paramedics arrived, the woman was in cardiac arrest. She died several days later.

According to autopsy results, the patient died from a heart attack caused by "lidocaine toxicity." The medical board claims Rutland did not know what a safe dosage of the anesthesia consisted of when he gave her the drug. He also allegedly did not recognize the symptoms of toxicity and failed to employ the correct resuscitation efforts.

The Anaheim doctor is also accused of not having malpractice insurance when he performed a surgery outside a hospital and practicing medicine in an office that did not have the proper licensing. This is not the first time that Dr. Rutland has been accused of California medical negligence. He gave up his medical license in 2002 following two infant deaths (one baby's spinal cord was torn during birth due to forceps use), and allegations that he lied to patients, had sex with one patient, and performed unnecessary hysterectomies.

Examples of OB/GYN Malpractice:

• Poor prenatal care
• Failure to conduct breast exams, annuals, or mammograms
• Failure to diagnose, wrong diagnosis, or delayed diagnosis of cancer
• Failure to diagnose birth defects or delivery complications
• Failure to perform necessary follow-up tests, such as a biopsy
• Birthing malpractice
• Surgical errors
• Forcep mistakes
• Anesthesia errors

Doc lost license once, accused of another death, OC Register, January 6, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Medical Board of California

Obstetrics and Medical Malpractice, Wrong Diagnosis

Continue reading "California OB/GYN Medical Malpractice?: Anaheim Doctor Blamed for Death of Abortion Patient" »

Two new studies are reporting that tens of thousands of people might get cancer in the future because they were exposed to radiation when they underwent CT scans. The findings from both studies can be found in the latest edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine. This is disturbing news, considering that more people are opting to undergo this type of imaging technology, once touted as painless, safe, and able to detect diseases. In 2007, 70 million CT scans were performed.

According to one study, led by University of San Francisco researchers, 1 out of 600 men and 1 out of 270 women who undergo CT coronary angiographies when they are 40 will end up getting cancer. For patients who undergo head CT scans at the same age, one out of 11,080 men and one out of 8,100 women will suffer from cancer as a result.

The findings come from an analysis of 1,119 patients who were given 11 of the most common kinds of examinations at four facilities in California's Bay Area last year. The amount of radiation given to patients varied.

The second study, which was conducted by National Cancer Institute researchers, estimates that about 29,000 future cancers will be linked to CT scans that were performed in this country two years ago: 2,700 cases will come from CT angiographies, 4,100 cancers from chest exams, 4,000 cancer cases from head scans, and 14,000 cancers from pelvis and abdominal CT scans.

These findings will undoubtedly cause additional worry to the over 200 patients who sued Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for Los Angeles medical malpractice after it became known that patients had been exposed to high radiation levels during CT brain perfusion scans. Over 18 months, the patients were exposed to eight times more than the usual dose of radiation that is recommended for this type of noninvasive procedure.

CT brain perfusion scans are performed about 150,000 times annually in this country.

Last week, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it was investigating whether patients treated at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, another Los Angeles County hospital, received CT scan-related radiation overdoses In November, officials from Glendale Adventist Medical Center, also in Los Angeles County, announced that 10 patients also received radiation overdoses when they had their CT scans. The CT scanners used in the three California hospitals to perform the procedures were made by General Electric or Toshiba.

If a CT scan is a cause of someone's cancer, the patient may have grounds for filing an Orange County, California medical malpractice complaint against the medical professional or facility that recommended the procedure. A CT manufacturer could also be held liable for designing dangerous medical device that causes cancer.

Cancer Risks and Radiation Exposure From Computed Tomographic Scans, Archives of Internal Medicine

New Focus on Dangers of CT Scans, CBS News, December 14, 2009

3rd L.A.-area hospital in radiation overdose probe, Los Angeles Times, December 8, 2009

Radiation overdoses found at second hospital, Los Angeles Times, November 21, 2009

Related Web Resource:
CT Brain Perfusion Scans Safety Investigation: Initial Notification, FDA

Continue reading "CT Scans Can Increase Cancer Risk, Says Two New Studies" »

Hospital beds are used in Orange County, California hospitals, outpatient facilities, nursing homes, as well as in many private home care situations. According to the Center for Devices and Radiological Health, some 2.5 million hospital beds are used in this country. A hospital bed is one that meets certain requirements that make it a medical device.

The Food and Drug Administration is now reporting that between 1985 - 2009, there have been at least 803 reported incidents in the US of patients getting entangled, caught, trapped, or strangled in these beds. These injury accidents have resulted in 138 injuries and 480 deaths. In 185 incidents, hospital workers were able to prevent patient injuries. The majority of patients involved in hospital bed accidents are older people and/or those who are frail or confused.

According to FDA nurse-consultant Joan Ferlo, hospitals should check the hospital's beds to make sure they don't pose an injury hazard. The mattress any grab bar or rail that comes with the bed should be examined to make sure that they aren't entrapment hazard. Possible entrapment zones involving hospital beds:

• Between the mattress and rail
• Beneath the rail
• Between split bed rails
• Between the foot or headboard and a rail end
• Between the mattress end and the foot or headboard

Hospital beds can also present a possible fire hazard if there is damage to the bed's power cord, the bed's motor overheat, there is an electrical short, clothing or sheets are placed too close to power sources, or dust clogs up the motor. The patient can sustain serious and painful burn injuries as a result.

Product manufacturers must make sure that their products are designed in a way that won't cause injury or death to consumers. Failure to fulfill this responsibility can lead to a California products liability or wrongful death lawsuit. Hospitals, nursing homes, and other facilities must make sure there are no hazardous conditions on the property that can cause injury or death. Otherwise, they can be held liable for California medical malpractice, premises liability, or wrongful death claims.

Practice Hospital Bed Safety, FDA

Related Web Resources:
Untie the Elderly

Hospitals in California, Yellow Pages

Continue reading "California Personal Injury: Are Hospital Beds an Entrapment Hazard? " »

In Los Angeles County, Cedars Sinai officials have announced that over 200 patients who underwent CT brain perfusion scans to diagnose strokes were exposed to very high doses of radiation. Over an 18-month period, 206 patients were given eight times the dose that is usually administered during this procedure.

Approximately 40% of the patients who were given the radiation overdoses lost patches of hair. Fortunately, the hair loss seems to be temporary.

Using radiation during a CT scan lets doctors obtain more detailed information. However, excessively high doses can result in radiation poisoning and even cancer. If you believe that you were exposed to high levels of radiation that made you ill, an experienced Los Angeles County medical malpractice lawyer can help you consider your legal options.

The radiation overdoses appear to have been caused by a computer-resetting mistake on the part of the hospital. A "misunderstanding about an embedded default setting" led to "higher than expected" radiation, reported Cedar Sinai officials.

The hospital, which had stopped the scans while it figured out what was causing patient hair loss, has restarted the procedures. Double checks and additional protocols have been instituted to make sure no radiation overdoses happen again.

The Food and Drug Administration is calling on radiologists, CT facilities, emergency physicians, neurosurgeons, neurologists, medical physicists, radiologic technologists, and radiation safety officers to check their own protocols for conducting CT scans to make sure this problem isn't happening elsewhere.

Cedars Sinai has recently come under fire for a number of high profile Los Angeles medical malpractice mistakes. Just last August, a jury awarded $7.3 million to the family of 5-year-old Paris Campen who sustained brain damage because the hospital failed to diagnose and treat him for meningitis.

Last December, movie star Dennis Quaid and his wife reached a $750,000 California medical malpractice settlement agreement with Cedars Sinai over their newborn twins' heparin overdose. In June, the twins settled their medical medical malpractice lawsuit involving injuries to minors against Cedars Sinai for $250,000 each.

Related Web Resources:
Safety Investigation of CT Brain Perfusion Scans: Initial Notification, FDA, October 8, 2009

Cedars-Sinai says error led to radiation overdoses on stroke patients [Updated], Los Angeles Times, October 12, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Cedars Sinai

US Food and Drug Administration

The California Medical Board says that Dr. Gary Rheinschild might be disciplined by the state over allegations that he botched a number of penis enlargement surgeries. The 75-year-old urologist is accused of gross negligence in the medical treatment he provided to three men. Dr. Gary Rheinschild is also accused of practicing medicine even though he may have been suffering from cognitive impairment.

The Anaheim Hills doctor's attorney is disputing the allegations and insists that her client satisfied the standard of care with all three clients. Failure to provide standard of care can be grounds for an Anaheim Hills, California medical malpractice lawsuit.

However, several national news publications are reporting that the Orange County, California urologist performed penile enhancement or reconstruction surgeries that have gone awry. The doctor's Web site says that surgery can give a patient up to two inches more in girth and length. According to the California Medical Board, the American Urological Association cannot verify that penile enhancement surgeries work or are effective.

One patient, who went to Rheinschild for surgery in 2003, says that the doctor seemed confused. He says that the operation made his penis deformed and crooked, but the urologist refused to fix his work. Another patient, age 25, says that the doctor's hand shook and he appeared to suffer from memory problems. Five weeks after surgery, the patient's penis started curving and became shorter, while a wound burst open. He too says the doctor refused to remedy the mistake. The man then underwent two reconstructive procedures.

The California Medical Board is considering whether to revoke Rheinschild's medical license. Rheinschild could be held liable for Orange County, California medical malpractice.

Elsewhere in the US, a man who lost his penis after surgery is suing his doctor for medical malpractice. Enrique Milla underwent a procedure in 2007 for his erectile dysfunction. He says that Dr. Paul Perito failed to tell him that his diabetes could put him at greater risk of infection. Milla went on to contract gangrene and doctors had to remove his penis.

Orange County, California urological malpractice is a type of medical malpractice that can result due to negligence, carelessness, or mistakes. Urologists treat diseases involving the urinary and genital tracts.

Doctor accused of botched penis enlargements, OC Register, September 18, 2009

Man Sues Doctor Over Loss Of Penis, My State Line, September 4, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Renal and Urology News

American Urological Association

According to a federal inspection report, five patients at UCI Medical Center were given overdoses of sedatives and narcotics because the nurses did not receive the proper training on how to correctly use the pain pumps. The overdoses took place between October and July.

The five patients had to be given reversal medications so that they could keep breathing. One patient was given a breathing tube and was taken to the ICU. Another patient was given an overdose of a tranquilizer because the nurse programmed the pump to give her the wrong medication. A sixth overdose happened while inspectors were there. Fortunately, none of the patients who were given overdoses died.

Chief medical officer at UCI Medical Center Dr. Eugene Spiritus said that after two of the overdoses, more training and safety precautions were implemented. Yet more overdoses occurred.

According to the nurse's union, UCI was using defective pain medication pumps, while the hospital said that the overdoses were a result of nursing mistakes.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services agrees that nursing errors did occur and that the nurses were not trained to use the pumps correctly. Last July, regulators announced an immediate jeopardy finding that was removed within 24 hours when the hospital started training nurses. UCI has also bought new pump technology.

Medication Mistakes
Medication overdose is one kind of medical error that can cause injury to a patient. It can also lead to an Orange County, California medical malpractice lawsuit. Other types of medication errors that can result in injury or death:

• Prescribing the wrong drug
• Prescribing the correct drug but the wrong dose
• Prescribing a drug that causes an adverse reaction when combined with other medications that the patient is taking
• Failure to let patients know about the risks associated with the drug
• Failure to tell patients about possible side effects
• Failure to monitor patient intake
• Prescribing a dangerous drug to a patient

UCI overdoses blamed on lack of nurse training, OC Register, September 17, 2009

UC Irvine Medical Center issued warning for drug pump problems, Los Angeles Times, September 17, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Medication Errors Injure 1.5 Million People and Cost Billions of Dollars Annually, National Academies, July 20, 2006

Hospital Errors Put More Patients at Risk, ABC News, April 4, 2007

Continue reading "Irvine, California Medical Malpractice?: Report Says UCI Patients Overdosed Because Nurses were Inadequately Trained" »

A 72-year-old retired worker is suing Parkview Community Hospital Medical Center for Riverside, California medical malpractice. Francisco Torres says that Dr. Erik Wahlstrom removed the right, healthy kidney, instead of the left one. Now, Torres has to undergo dialysis every three days. Torres had expected a full recovery following the July 14 procedure, but he is still at Riverside rehabilitation center and will no longer be able to live alone.

In Torres's Riverside County, California medical malpractice complaint, he is seeking damages for injuries he sustained from the wrong-site surgery. Torres is accusing the surgeon and the hospital of battery, malpractice, and failing to disclose Wahlstrom's record with the Medical Board of California.

Doctors were supposed to operate on his left kidney after a cancerous mass was discovered. Torres's medical chart initially noted that the left kidney is the one that doctors had to take out. A day prior to the procedure, however, the surgeon and a nurse made a notation in Torres's chart that his right kidney was the one that needed to be surgically removed.

This is not the first complaint filed against Wahlstrom, who founded Riverside Community Hospital's Southern California Transplantation Institute. Earlier this year, the surgeon settled a San Bernardino, California medical malpractice lawsuit in arbitration for nearly $2 million over another kidney procedure. The transplant surgery took place in 2005 and an infection occurred. As a result, the patient's body rejected the new kidney, which had to be removed.

Wrong Site Surgeries
Wrong-site procedures are never supposed to happen, yet as of June, The Joint Commission has reported 837 wrong-site surgeries. Hospitals are supposed to put procedures in place to prevent surgeons from operating on the wrong body part and/or removing the wrong organ. In many cases, the damage done from this type of botched procedure cannot be easily fixed. For example, once you take out a kidney, you cannot put it back in the patient's body. Removing the wrong breast can leave the patient disfigured or cause a cancerous mass on the unhealthy breast to spread.

The injuries and health issues that arise from a wrong-site can permanently disable the patient and even result in wrongful death.

Surgery patient sues doctor, hospital, claiming wrong kidney removed, Press-Enterprise, September 2, 2009

Man Claims Hospital Removed Wrong Kidney, KTLA, September 4, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Universal Protocol for Preventing Wrong Site Surgery, Joint Commission

Difference Between Near Miss, Wrong-Site Surgery Studied, Modern Medicine, August 17, 2009

In California, the department of Public Health is fining six Southern California Hospitals $25,000 each for serious violations. Some of these violations were serious enough to result in patient injuries and deaths.

In Orange County, California, Children's Hospital is accused of failing to make sure that the appropriate drainage procedure was conducted on a child following a neurological procedure last year. Because of the oversight, state health officials say that the patient sustained a serious traumatic brain injury. Meantime, the hospital has said that it has adjusted hospital protocols and stepped up staff training to decrease the chances that this type of catastrophic medical mistake will happen again.

In Newport Beach, medical staffers at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian reportedly failed to continuously monitor a patient. Because of this, no one noticed that the patient's cardiac activity strip had flat-lined suddenly after a cardiac monitor was disconnected for over half an hour. Also, the technician never heard the machine alarm go off because the sound was set at a lower level. A nurse discovered the patient, who by this time was unresponsive and sweating heavily. The patient's time of death was called 20 minutes later. The Newport Beach hospital says that the hospital has hired more staff members so that the responsibility of checking too many monitors doesn't fall on just one person.

In Riverside County, Southwest Healthcare Systems received its third administrative fine since 2007. The Murietta, California hospital is accused of using general surgery beds as intensive care beds and not having enough people on staff.

In Laguna Beach, South Coast Medical Center was ordered to pay a fine for failing to follow proper surgical procedures. Medical staffers had to perform a second surgery after items were left in a patient during an initial surgery. In Los Angeles County, USC Medical Center and Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton in San Bernardino County must pay fines for similar surgical mistakes.

The California Department of Public Health also issued fines to hospitals in Solano County, Butte County, Calaveras County, and Lake County.

Our Anaheim, California medical malpractice lawyers do not dispute that it is positive progress for hospitals to remedy procedural errors that have caused medical mistakes in the past. Fixing the problem now, however, will not bring back someone who died or reverse the illness or take away the injury sustained due to medical negligence.

State fines six California hospitals for serious violations, Los Angeles Times, September 3, 2009

California Department of Public Health Issues Administrative Penalties to 12 Hospitals, Cdph, September 3, 2009

Related Web Resources:

Continue reading "Orange County, California Medical Malpractice?: Hospitals Ordered to Pay Fines for Serious Violations, Some Resulting in Injuries and Deaths" »

A California jury has awarded the family of 5-year-old Paris Campen $7.4 million for the severe brain injury she sustained when she was a baby because of medical malpractice. Campen was just a newborn when doctors at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's neonatal intensive care unit failed to promptly treat her infection with an antibiotic.

The infant developed meningitis, which resulted in permanent brain damage. Now she must use a permanent shunt in her brain to get rid of excess fluids. She also has to undergo behavioral and physical therapy.

Campen's mother, an ER doctor at UCLA Medical Center, says that doctors at Cedars Sinai ignored her when she questioned their care of her daughter. In her Los Angeles medical malpractice complaint, she accuses the medical staff at the hospital of failing to provide Campen with the standard of care that should have resulted in a timely diagnosis and immediate care.

Meningitis
Meningitis can be fatal to babies. Immediate diagnosis and the administration of the proper medications is necessary to combat the infection and to decrease the chances that the patient will suffer from hearing loss, brain damage, or learning diabetes.

Medical providers in California are supposed to provide patients with the standard of care that they can expect from other professionals in the field. Failure to provide that care can be grounds for a Los Angeles County medical malpractice lawsuit if a patient gets hurt or dies.

Pediatric malpractice, including failing to identify symptoms, wrong diagnosis, delayed diagnosis, delayed medical care, surgical malpractice, and medication mix-ups, can lead to brain injuries, strep infections, pneumococcal infections, bacterial infections, and even death. In many cases, a child who survives an incident of pediatric malpractice may be left with permanent damage that will be very costly for the family and may permanently compromise his or her quality of life. The best way of ensuring that your son or daughter receives the pediatric malpractice recovery that your family is owed is to explore your legal options.

Brain-damaged child awarded millions from Cedar Sinai, LA Times, August 29, 2009

Jury awards baby $7.3M in medical malpractice suit, Enquirer Herald, August 29, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Medical Malpractice Overview, Justia

Meningitis

Continue reading "Jury Awards Family $7.4 Million Los Angeles Medical Malpractice Verdict for Child's Serious Brain Damage from Meningitis in Lawsuit Against Cedars-Sinai Medical Center" »

Earlier this month, the California Supreme Court announced that it has decided not to hear a case that is seeking to overturn the state's cap on noneconomic damages for medical malpractice lawsuits.

In 2007, a California jury had awarded James Van Buren $2.5 million in noneconomic damages for injuries he sustained during a perianal cyst operation. The surgeon accidentally severed a muscle and, as a result, Van Buren now suffers from permanent fecal incontinence and must use diapers for the duration of his life. Van Buren's California medical malpractice team had argued that not only had his quality of life been compromised, but also he has had to deal with emotional trauma and embarrassment as a result of the injury he sustained from the botched surgery.

Because of California's Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act, Van Buren's noneconomic damages award was lowered by 90%. Currently, there is a $250,000 cap for pain and suffering. Van Buren appealed this outcome.

The 5th District Court of Appeal upheld the cap's constitutionality. While those who support the California medical malpractice cap says the limit helps clinicians stay in business, critics believe that the cap violates the rights of victims.

California Medical Malpractice
Our Orange County, California medical malpractice lawyers are aware of the physical and emotional trauma that can result from becoming the victim of a botched surgery, a wrong diagnosis, a delayed diagnosis, or some other form of medical carelessness or negligence. Many medical mistakes can lead to catastrophic consequences for the victim.

You are entitled to the financial recovery that you are owed so you can live the best quality of life possible under the circumstances. Surgical errors can lead to infections, medical complications, permanent injury, emotional trauma, chronic pain, pain medication abuse, and death.

Although it is impossible to quantify your suffering, with the help of an experienced Orange County, California medical malpractice law firm, you can hold all negligent parties liable and obtain the resources that you require to recover.

California Supreme Court denies malpractice cap appeal, Clinical Advisor, August 18, 2009

California Medical Malpractice Damages Cap Challenge Refused, About Lawsuits, August 17, 2009

Related Web Resources:
">">Medical Malpractice and Surgical errors/complications, Wrong Diagnosis

California's Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA), San Diego County Medical Society

Continue reading "California Supreme Court Decides Not to Hear Case Appealing Medical Malpractice Cap on Noneconomic Damages" »

This just in from a story that our Orange County, California wrongful death lawyers have been following: A search warrant affidavit that was unsealed today reports that Michael Jackson died of "lethal levels" of propofol, which is a powerful anesthetic.

The documents say that Murray was treating the singer for insomnia and had been administering to him 50 milligrams of propofol every night through an intravenous line. The doctor has told investigators that he was afraid Michael was becoming addicted to the drug and tried to wean him off it by lowering the dosages he would administer and mixing in midazolam and lorazepam, two other sedatives. He says that two days before the singer's death, he gave him the two sedatives without propofol.

Murray says that on the morning of the singer's death, Murray attempted to get him to sleep without propofol. He at first gave him valium and then later lorazepam via injection. He then administered midazolam and then other drugs. Murray says he finally gave Jackson 25 milligrams of propofol at about 10:40 that day because the singer demanded it. Prescription medications found in Michael's house included tamsulosin, tamzepam, lorazepam, trazodone, clonazepam, and tizanidine.

Jackson died on June 25 in Los Angeles from cardiac arrest. He was 50.

Medical Malpractice
Physicians are responsible for providing patients with a certain quality of care. They are not supposed to overmedicate a patient or enable their drug addictions even when they are hired as someone's personal physician. If a doctor acts negligently by administering too much medication to a patient, the consequences can be lethal and the physician could be held liable for California medical malpractice.

Jackson's mother, Katherine Jackson, has been considering filing a California wrongful death lawsuit over her son's unexpected demise and there is a chance that Murray could be named a defendant.

Jackson was getting ready for his "final" tour at the time of his death and there are concerns that the rehearsals were taking a toll on his health. Katherine Jackson's attorney has yet to confirm or deny whether concert promoter AEG might be named a defendant if there were to be a civil case.

'Lethal levels' of anesthetic propofol killed Michael Jackson, Los Angeles Times, August 24, 2009

Jackson's mother considering wrongful death suit, Los Angeles Times/AP, August 19, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Medical Malpractice Overview, Justia

Michael Jackson, Dead at 50, Rolling Stones

Continue reading "California Wrongful Death?: Search Affidavit Reveals that Michael Jackson Died of "Lethal Levels" of Propofol" »

Movie star Dennis Quaid's twins will each get $250,000 as part of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's California medical malpractice settlement for the drug overdose that almost killed them when they were newborns.

Zoe Grace and Thomas Boone were born premature in 2007. While at the Southern California hospital, they were accidentally given 10,000 units of Heparin--twice--when babies are usually supposed to get just 10 units. The medication overdose occurred after a pharmacy technician stored the blood thinner in the wrong area. A nurse then administered the drug to the infants without checking to make sure the dose was correct. Another baby that was at the hospital at the same time as the twins also received a Heparin overdose.

The babies began bleeding. In "critical condition," they were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit until they recovered. Included in the terms of the California medical malpractice settlement, Cedars has consented to provide future medical care if the twins experience health issues because of the medication overdose. Court documents contend that the twins could also be subject to emotional injuries.

Although Cedars and the Quaids originally settled the civil dispute last year for $750,000, the movie star's legal team contended that the amount was not enough for the injuries to minors claim.

The Quaids are also suing drug maker Baxter Healthcare Corp. for their children's injuries. The couple, in their products liability lawsuit, have called the Heparin vials "unreasonably dangerous" and noted that the vials containing 10,000 units and 10 ml units have background colors on their medication labels that are in shades of blue. The drug manufacturer has recently revised its packaging of the Heparin vials.

Heparin Overdose
The Quaid twins are not the first babies to suffer injuries because of a Heparin overdose. In 2008, 17 babies born premature at a Texas hotel reportedly received Heparin overdoses. In 2007, three babies died in Indiana after they accidentally received adult doses of Heparin.

The Institute for Safe Medication Practices reports that Heparin is one of eight medications that are involved in over 30% of all medication mistakes. US Pharmecopia says that over an 18-month period ending in July 2008, over 250 incidents occurred in the US involving Heparin and young children age 1 and under.

Quaid Babies Settle Drug Lawsuit, TMZ, June 19, 2009

Heparin Overdoses at Texas Hospital Under Investigation, NewsInferno.com, July 9, 2008

Dennis Quaid settles with Cedars-Sinai hospital over babies' overdose, NY Daily News, December 16, 2008

Related Web Resources:
Baxter Healthcare

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center