California Medical Malpractice Law Blog

UC Davis Children’s Hospital has reached a milestone in its effort to help children born after birth affixia – the lack of oxygen at or near birth. After first instituting “cooling therapy” in 2009 as a technique to help babies suffering from birth injuries, Children’s Hospital has now successfully helped more than 50 infants with this method.

Cooling therapy is a technique used that is designed to reduce long-term neurological damage following birth asphyxia – also known as hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) – which occurs when the the flow of oxygen to a baby’s brain is reduced or cut off completely. This may occur for a variety of reasons, including medical malpractice. If physicians or other staff fail to act quickly enough to restore the flow of oxygen, such as by performing an emergency c-section, they may be found responsible for causing the birth trauma and liable for damages. As the result of birth asphyxia or HIE, a baby may have severe and long-term neurological damage.

Brain cooling therapy works by reducing an infants core body temperature which then slows secondary damage to healthy cells in the brain after an initial brain trauma. By beginning to cool infants as quickly as possible after an injury, physicians at Davis have been able to improve the lives of infants born with brain injuries by lessening the degree of developmental delays they experience.

Optimally, cooling therapy is given within the first 6 to 14 hours of life to infants who show signs of fetal distress, such as an Apgar score below 5, an altered state of consciousness and require artificial ventilation.

As stated by one doctor, it is hoped that “induced hypothermia will result in fewer infants with devastating lifelong disabilities.”

Continue reading "Cooling Therapy Program At UC Davis Reaches Milestone For Helping Infants Suffering Birth Injuries" »

A California Court of Appeals has upheld a medical malpractice jury award of $9.9 million. The case arose after a patient suffered brain damage as the result of an accidental overdose from a morphine-filled pain pump.

We count on medical providers to care for us and support us during our most critical moments. Although most health care workers provide excellent care, in some situations providers do not hold themselves to the requisite standard of care. When professionals fall below this standard, they may be guilty of medical malpractice.

Here, a woman sued a home-nursing firm for negligence in her post-surgery care. The lawsuit alleged that medical staff failed to provide a “timely post-op visit” on the day of surgery and failed to adequately maintain a morphine pump, which led to “some of all of her brain damage.” According to documents, the morphine pump locked out twice, giving her morphine doses above the prescribed amount. As a result of the overdose, the woman suffered a brain injury. A lawsuit was filed on her behalf alleging product liability, negligence and medical malpractice.

A jury found the health care corporation that employed the home-nursing staff liable and awarded compensation for her damages, including future medical costs.

Although not every unfavorable outcome is a case of medical malpractice, where you have suffered a devastating injury due to the actions or inaction of medical professionals, you may be able to recover compensation.

Continue reading "$9.9 Million Award Upheld In Medical Malpractice Brain Damage Case" »

The California Court of Appeals, Second District, has recently upheld a $9 million judgment for a woman who suffered brain damage as the result of a delayed diagnosis of an infection in a shunt in her brain.

In Sanchez v. Caremore Medical Group, the plaintiff – Maria Theresa Sanchez – came in to the hospital – a CareMore facility - complaining of a severe headache and vomiting. She had been diagnosed with hydrocephalus in childhood and had a peritoneal shunt installed in her head to drain the fluid. Sanchez was “highly functional.”

Sanchez was given Tylenol and sent home from the hospital. Her symptoms worsened and a few days later she went to an emergency room where it was determined she needed to be tested for a brain infection. However, upon transfer to a new CareMore facility, her physician failed to include a description of the symptoms and the consulting neurologist failed to look at any of the other records.

Although Sanchez’ symptoms continued to worsen, CareMore physicians refused to admit her to the emergency room. A non-CareMore doctor eventually diagnosed her as having a brain infection and removed the infected shunt after she had become so ill that she fell out of her wheelchair.

As a result of the delay in diagnosis, Sanchez cannot walk, has slurred speech, is in constant pain, and is partially paralyzed.

Proper diagnosis is the first and most essential step in the treatment process. A medical provider is responsible for recognizing potential medical problems early on. This means that he or she must perform tests that another medical professional with the same knowledge would perform. Here even though instructions were given to rule out brain infection, due to carelessness on the part of the new doctor, this crucial test was never performed.

When a medical professional falls below the standard of care established by other medical providers, he or she may be guilty of medical malpractice.

Continue reading "$9 Million Verdict For Failure To Diagnose Brain Infection Upheld" »

To this day, many front line physicians do not know of the long-standing guidelines setting forth that some patients at risk for stroke who are chronically anticoagulated with coumadin should receive lovenox as a bridging therapy to prevent a recurrent thromboembolism. As such, many patients suffer devastating strokes as a result. Some of these people, unfortunately end up as plaintiffs in medical malpractice cases. Hopefully the stories of these unfortunate vicitms of malpractice will serve to educate the medical community on the importance of following published guidelines to prevent stroke.

Jeffrey S Mitchell

$21 million - Largest California verdict (non-punitive) for single individual, including interest and costs.

We represented a 56-year-old woman who was injured when her car was struck from behind by a Mack truck at the Fourth Street off-ramp off Highway 280 in San Francisco. She was waiting at a stop light when the truck hit the car behind her and then pushed her car into the car in front of her. The driver of the truck claimed that his brakes failed at the last minute. At the scene of the accident she did not seem to be seriously injured; nevertheless, she was taken to the hospital where they discovered she was bleeding into her brain. She was admitted to the hospital for an emergency craniotomy to evacuate a large subdural hematoma. She was in a coma for three days and woke to a partial paralysis. Several months later she had recovered her motor abilities, but had residual cognitive deficits including memory, concentration and the ability to perform multiple tasks simultaneously. She attempted to return to work eight months after the accident as an executive search recruiter, however she was unable to perform the demanding aspects of her job. The defense contended that she was obviously bright, articulate and therefore should be able to work. They also contended that the brake failure could not have been anticipated. We convinced the jury that she was not able to return to her previous employment and there was not a brake failure. The defendant offered $3,500,000 in settlement, which was rejected. The jury awarded $19,631,000. The judgment was entered for this amount plus past interest and costs for a total of $21,000,000. Our investigation indicates that this may be the largest net compensatory (non punitive) award of its type for an individual in California state history.

Personal injury law is designed to provide financial protection for individuals who have suffered catastrophic injuries, such as brain injury or spinal cord injury, due to the negligent or wrongful actions of another individual or entity. Many injuries can be classified as personal injury, and our San Francisco personal injury law firm has experience litigating most types of personal injury cases.

While there are many types of personal injury cases, the most common include automobile accidents, premises liability, and defective products. Many of these cases involve the victim suffering severe physical devastation, often in the form of brain injury or spinal cord injury. San Francisco attorneys at Bostwick, Peterson & Mitchell believe that if another citizen, business owner, or organization is responsible for the injuries sustained by the victim, the negligent entity should be held liable for the victim’s losses – financial and emotional.

Please contact our San Francisco personal injury law firm today if you have suffered an injury due to the negligent or wrongful acts of another.

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