Hospital Pays $3.5 million in Medical Malpractice Case

A hospital agreed to pay $3.5 million in a medical malpractice case to a woman after she lost all except six inches of her bowel because doctors did not diagnose her condition early enough. According to the Calaveras Enterprise, the woman had gastric bypass surgery in 2009 and in 2010 she started having abdominal pain. Doctors diagnosed her with constipation. But a full body scan done later that year showed that she needed abdominal surgery.
Doctors found she had an internal hernia in her small bowel, which was likely a complication from the gastric bypass surgery. The woman had to have a part of her intestine removed and a stomach tube put in for feeding. After the procedure, the woman was still in pain and she had to undergo another surgery to reverse the gastric bypass and remove one foot of her small intestine. She now needs a full-time caretaker to administer nutrients through a solution that is injected directly into her vein.
According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), more than 225,000 people die every year because of medical errors. There are about 12,000 deaths a year because of unnecessary surgery, another 80,000 fatalities because of infections contracted in hospitals and about 7,000 due to medication errors.
Medical negligence cases typically involve errors in treatment by doctors or other medical professionals. However that may not always be the case. Diagnosing a patient properly is just as important as performing a procedure properly. Overlooking a potentially serious condition can be life altering for a patient and devastating to the patient’s family. Often when a patient’s condition is not treated properly, it can worsen which could mean more medical treatment, bills and possibly additional surgeries down the line.
Medical malpractice also covers a variety of other areas such as mistakes in surgery or improperly prescribing medications to patients. In the worst cases, these errors could become fatal. Victims of medical malpractice may be entitled to compensation such as lost wages and benefits, past and future pain and suffering, hospitalization costs, physical therapy, etc.
If you or a loved one has been injured in New York as a result of medical negligence, the experienced New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can provide you with more information about pursuing your legal rights. Our firm has recovered many millions of dollars for victims of medical negligence. Please call our offices 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). We can also help with personal injury cases in New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
Other phone numbers for us are:
1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
Please visit us at: www.WORK4YOULAW.com
Source: Calaveras Enterprise