South Carolina Lawyer Blog

Blood infections in newborn babies in South Carolina were reduced by up to 58 percent in hospitals where intensive care workers used safety checklists, a new study shows.

The checklists covered the steps to be taken when blood catheters were inserted in an infant’s vein or artery. If the procedure is not done properly, the infant risks getting a bloodstream infection that can result in serious accidental injury or death.

Simply by using the checklists – and communicating more effectively with each other – workers in neonatal ICUs were able to prevent an estimated 131 newborn infections and 41 deaths.

South Carolina was one of nine states – and 100 hospital neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) – that participated in the study, which was conducted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Following is from the AHRQ news release:

CLABSIs are healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) that cause serious illness and death in infants as well as adults. A central line is a tube (catheter) that goes into a patient’s vein or artery and ends in the central bloodstream. In newborns, especially premature infants, central lines can remain in place for weeks or months to provide nutrients and medications as babies become able to function on their own.

Health care teams in the project states, caring for a total of 8,400 newborns, used AHRQ’s Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP) to improve safety culture and consistently implement catheter insertion and maintenance guidelines. CUSP is customizable and helps hospitals understand and apply the science of safety and take actions to improve teamwork and communications.

When the project began, participating NICUs had an overall infection rate of 2.043 per 1,000 central line days. At the end of the project, that rate was reduced to 0.855 per 1,000 central line days, a relative reduction of 58 percent.

“The CUSP framework brings together safety culture, teamwork and best practices—a combination that is clearly working to keep these vulnerable babies safer,” says AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D. “These remarkable results show us that, with the right tools and dedicated clinicians, hospital units can rapidly make care safer.”

The nine-state project in NICUs is part of a larger AHRQ-funded effort to implement CUSP to prevent CLABSIs nationwide.

The 11-month study was based on safety guidelines developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition to South Carolina, participating states were Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina and Wisconsin.

You can view the final report here. Get more information on AHRQ’s efforts to improve neonatal care here and here.

Source: AHRQ http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2013/nclabsipr.htm

According to a new report from the National Institutes of Health, whether someone treated for heart failure ends up being readmitted to a hospital is more closely tied to income level and community than to how sick they are or how well a hospital treats patients.

The research, which was presented to the American Heart Association, shows that the percentage of patients who are readmitted because of heart failure varies by region. Some regions had rates as low as 10 percent, and others were as high as 32 percent.

After studying records from over 3,000 hospitals and 1 million patients, researchers found that the availability of doctors or hospital beds, a patient’s income level and their ethnicity were more strongly connected to higher rates of readmission than any other factors—including how sick a patient was or how well the hospital cared for patients.

These findings are a concern for some in the medical community, since hospitals with high readmission rates will face a steep penalty from the government—in the form of reduced Medicare payments—beginning next year.

Some hospital advocates say that the best option, rather than cutting payments, may be to look to the communities around hospitals with high readmission rates, since they are often hospitals which provide care to low-income and other at-risk patients. And because of recent hits to the economy and employment rates, concerns about readmissions and poverty rates aren’t just for hospitals and patients in places like New York, Chicago or Detroit.

What all this may mean for the quality of health care—or readmission rates—in South Carolina is still uncertain. Staff at the Good Neighbor Clinic estimate that there are 30,000 uninsured and poor patients in Beaufort County alone. This, combined with the recent findings linking high poverty levels to higher rates of readmission, should cause some worry for both patients and doctors.

About The Louthian Law Firm

The Louthian Law Firm, P.A., of Columbia, S.C., has been obtaining fair compensation for personal injury victims since 1959. The firm was founded by Herbert Louthian, who has more than 50 years of trial experience and is licensed to practice in all courts in South Carolina. In addition to claims involving healthcare negligence, the Louthian Law Firm also handles whistleblower claims, sexual harassment, personal injury cases; car, truck and motorcycle accidents; and other serious and catastrophic injuries throughout South Carolina. For a free, confidential case evaluation, contact the firm by phone at (866) 410-5656 or through its online contact form.

It seems the saying “location, location, location” may be important to remember in more contexts than real estate, according to the findings of a few recent health studies. One of the most significant studies focused on survival rates for heart attacks across the U.S.

The study, led by researchers at Yale University, looked at more than 500 hospitals across the country and compared hospital policies and practices with patient survival rates. Researchers found that survival rates doubled at hospitals which shared five common practices.

These practices centered largely on staffing and staff communication, with things like better teamwork among doctors and nurses or monthly meetings between paramedics and doctors positively impacting patients’ likelihood of surviving heart attacks. Unfortunately, according to their findings, fewer than 10 percent of the hospitals used even four of the five life-saving practices.

In addition to the Yale study, the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association recently issued a recommendation based upon the effects of hospital choice on survival rates for stroke victims. According to the two groups, people who are diagnosed as suffering from aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, a kind of stroke which includes bleeding in the brain, should be admitted to hospitals which treat at least 35 of those cases a year. Their recommendation targets emergency room staff, who are often the first to diagnose patients with these kinds of bleeding strokes, saying that hospitals which don’t see many of these cases should immediately transfer patients to locations that do. Researchers found that at so-called ‘high-density’ hospitals, there were 12 percent fewer deaths than at hospitals that treated bleeding strokes less often. Patients treated at high-density hospitals may also have fewer complications in their recoveries, experts say.

Both of these reports shed important light on how hospital staffing and expertise among hospital workers affect a patient’s ability to access life-saving care—and how not all hospitals, not all locations, are created equal. Unfortunately, not all patients are in a position to know how to choose or even be able to choose the right place for treatment, especially in an emergency situation. Often, it’s left to family members to act as advocates for a loved one. It’s important to think about your medical wishes and to talk about them with your family. It’s also important to remember to take the time to do this before a medical emergency happens—before a loved one’s survival is on the line.

About The Louthian Law Firm

The Louthian Law Firm, P.A., of Columbia, S.C., has been obtaining fair compensation for personal injury victims since 1959. The firm was founded by Herbert Louthian, who has more than 50 years of trial experience and is licensed to practice in all courts in South Carolina. The Louthian Law Firm handles personal injury cases involving medical malpractice; car, truck and motorcycle accidents; and other serious and catastrophic injuries throughout South Carolina. For a free, confidential case evaluation, contact the firm by phone at (866) 410-5656 or through its online contact form

A recent study that looked at more than 19,000 operations found that the costs of medical care in the U.S. aren’t at all uniform—for example, you could be charged anywhere from $1,500 to $180,000 for the same type of surgery.

The study, carried out by researchers in California, compared the costs of treating appendicitis—which involves removing a person’s appendix through a surgical procedure called an “appendectomy.” The researchers looked at the cases of people between the ages of 18 and 59 who were hospitalized for three days or less and whose cases were classified as “uncomplicated.”

The average bill for treatment was about $34,000, but researchers also came across a bill that totaled $182,955. Some of the differences in billing, the study found, happen because of the kind of hospital (public or for-profit, etc.) and how ill the patient is. For example, public hospitals tended to have lower costs on their bills than for-profit hospitals, the study found.

The biggest bill was for a woman undergoing cancer treatment who had her appendix removed—although her bill didn’t show any charges for cancer treatments. However, differences in hospital type and illness don’t explain all of the costs and differences in bills, researchers and medical experts say.

About 32 percent of the differences between bills remain unexplained, according to the study. Experts and patient advocates who commented on the study also pointed to the impact of insurance, saying that some well-insured patients are insulated from many kinds of charges, while under- or un-insured patients are given heftier bills—and often without understanding what hospitals expect them to pay for.

Even among insured patients, the type or brand of insurance can really affect the cost that ends up on your final bill. According to one healthcare advocate, costs within the same state, for the same type of procedure, can be three to six times as much—depending almost entirely upon insurance.

Along with questioning the impact of insurance companies, healthcare experts also say that expecting patients to comparison shop between hospitals is unrealistic—particularly for emergency care. Researchers also said their study looked at the amount that patients were charged, not at how hospitals were actually paid. Because hospitals can receive payments from insurance companies, employers, the government and other groups (like drug companies), some of the costs that get passed on to patients may have been affected by these other sources of income. But how this income affects a patient’s bill still isn’t clear.

Some advocates say that looking at how hospitals, insurance companies and other groups give doctors and administrators payments and other kinds of bonuses or “incentives” for certain kinds of medical care may help shed light on how a hospital bill actually gets made—and how costs get passed to patients.

About The Louthian Law Firm

The Louthian Law Firm, P.A., of Columbia, S.C., has been obtaining fair compensation for personal injury victims since 1959. The firm was founded by Herbert Louthian, who has more than 50 years of trial experience and is licensed to practice in all courts in South Carolina. The Louthian Law Firm handles personal injury cases involving medical malpractice; car, truck and motorcycle accidents; and other serious and catastrophic injuries throughout South Carolina. For a free, confidential case evaluation, contact the firm by phone at (866) 410-5656 or through its online contact form

A recent study conducted in Spain showed that almost eight percent of fatally ill patients didn’t receive necessary treatment because they were misdiagnosed. Unfortunately, these mistakes were discovered only after the patients had died, during an examination of the deceased, commonly known as an autopsy. The Spanish study looked at how often autopsy findings matched doctor diagnoses in seriously ill patients who died in intensive care units, and it found a difference in 18.5 percent of the cases -- or nearly one in five.

The Spanish study should alarm American patients and doctors, since fatal misdiagnosis is not a problem unique to Spain.

A 2004 article by Dr. Kaveh G. Shojania, who works in the Department of Medicine at UC-San Francisco, discusses the dangers of misdiagnoses in seriously ill patients, and points to several factors that can lead doctors to the wrong conclusions. Dr. Shojania also points out how the reduced incidence of autopsy in the United States makes it difficult to track the rate of misdiagnosis. An example of this could be a 2003 report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which found that nine percent of acutely ill U.S. patients received a misdiagnosis that seriously impacted their treatment. The authors reached this figure by surveying autopsies recorded between 1966 and 2002.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the percentage of U.S. deaths investigated with an autopsy dropped more than 50 percent from 1972 through 2007, going from about 19 percent to around 8 percent (or fewer than one in ten deaths). What autopsies look into has also changed, according to CDC data. In 1972, about 80 percent of autopsies examined deaths which involved disease or illness, and the remaining number were because of external causes, such as injury, accident or homicide. By 2007, those proportions had changed dramatically. Disease-related exams represented less than half of all autopsies carried out—and the total numbers, as we just mentioned, shrank drastically by that time.

The shrinking numbers of investigations into the deaths of critically ill patients may be letting serious mistakes in the medical system go undetected. According to patient safety researchers and experts, the number and frequency of errors in doctor diagnoses have gone largely uninvestigated. The experts agree that there are many factors that impact a doctor’s opinion and medical findings—and an autopsy is often an important tool in determining the effectiveness of various treatment options.

Of course, the declining number of autopsies may also have many causes. Many families may not be aware that they can request an autopsy, even for a non-violent or seemingly normal death. Additionally, the cost of autopsies has caused some hospitals to stop the practice almost entirely and may bar some families from being able to request a thorough investigation into the exact cause of a loved one’s death.

About The Louthian Law Firm

The Louthian Law Firm, P.A., of Columbia, S.C., has been obtaining fair compensation for personal injury victims since 1959. The firm was founded by Herbert Louthian, who has more than 50 years of trial experience and is licensed to practice in all courts in South Carolina. The Louthian Law Firm focuses on personal injury cases involving medical malpractice; car, truck and motorcycle accidents; and other serious and catastrophic injuries throughout South Carolina. For a free, confidential case evaluation, contact the firm by phone at (866) 410-5656 or through its online form.

A recent report about robotic drug dispensers, a kind of technology used more and more often in hospitals, found that the dispensers may be more likely to contain harmful bacteria, and be able to spread those bacteria to medications and patients.

According to the report, hospital staff in North Carolina found harmful Bacillus cereus germs during a routine test of drugs dispensed by a pharmacy robot system. The germ is not only potentially harmful to humans, it is resistant to many common disinfectants, including alcohol. Bacillus cereus is commonly associated with certain kinds of food poisoning, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

While the most common effects of Bacillus cereus infection are digestive problems or vomiting, the germ has been known to cause lung infections, gangrene, brain swelling and even death.

The study says that the germ outbreak was traced back to parts of the robot cleaning system which, surprisingly, isn’t considered a ‘sterile’ part of the machine and has no formal cleaning or maintenance procedures from the manufacturer—other than suggestions of occasional “fogging” with alcohol.

In the North Carolina case, there were no reported cases of the germ spreading to patients, but experts say the risk of such a spread is possible, especially for drugs given by injection. This makes the presence of harmful germs in the pharmacy robots especially disturbing, since they are used specifically to prepare sterile drugs for injection.

The authors of the study and other experts say that the makers of the pharmacy robots should come up with more specific guidelines about keeping the robots clean and free of unwanted and potentially dangerous germs. They also suggest using the robot in the clean rooms of hospital pharmacies, which may help limit exposure to contaminants. Regular testing of drugs dispensed by the pharmacy robots is also necessary, the report says.

If you or someone you care about has been injured by the negligence of a medical professional or hospital, you should speak with a South Carolina medical malpractice attorney like the ones at the Louthian Law Firm as soon as possible. Our attorneys can help you evaluate your case; protect your legal right to the courts; and stand by your side throughout the legal process.

For a free consultation, call the Columbia SC Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Louthian Law Firm today at (866) 454-1200 or locally at (803) 454-1200. You can also fill out our confidential online case evaluation form.

Controversy has accompanied recent overhauls and changes to the medical system in the United States. The switch to electronic health records (or EHRs) and other digital systems seem to be at the heart of much of the controversy.

Recent articles about the safety and security of EHRs have questioned how ready hospitals and doctors are for the switch from traditional, paper-based record keeping. Another recent study, focusing on emergency room records, showed that the more designers improved the ability of EHR software to recognize unapproved abbreviations used by doctors (for things like medications or symptoms), the more doctors used them. That increased the risk of the notes being misread by another doctor or pharmacist.

However, patient safety and security wasn’t the main concern behind a recent letter from the American Medical Association (AMA) to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), urging government regulators to ease impending deadlines—and, more specifically, the financial penalties tied to them. The AMA letter, addressed to DHHS Acting Administrator Marilyn B. Tavenner, says that doctors are facing a “storm” of overlapping regulations and deadlines from government mandates.

The letter focused mostly on the fines and penalties facing physicians who do not meet deadlines for new electronic drug prescribing systems, EHRs, and a program known as the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS), which pays doctors for reporting information about the impact of some kinds of treatment paid for by Medicare.

The letter states that the quality of medical care could be hurt by overlapping systems, and uses the example of a situation where a doctor receives a payment and a penalty at the same time, because of the same program. According to the letter, this sort of confusion and financial strain could keep some doctors from wanting to update to EHRs or other systems on time—even at the cost of patient safety.

About The Louthian Law Firm

The Louthian Law Firm, P.A., of Columbia, S.C., has been obtaining fair compensation for personal injury victims since 1959. The firm was founded by Herbert Louthian, who has more than 50 years of trial experience and is licensed to practice in all courts in South Carolina. The Louthian Law Firm focuses on personal injury cases involving medical malpractice; car, truck and motorcycle accidents; and other serious and catastrophic injuries throughout South Carolina. For a free, confidential case evaluation, contact the firm by phone at (866) 410-5656 or through its online form.

News of dangerous bacterial infections, large Medicare fraud and other breakdowns in patient safety and care in our healthcare system haunted this year’s Patient Safety Awareness Week. Now, recent findings show, the privacy and safety of your information might be another hidden healthcare danger. Though doctors and healthcare advocates agree that digital medical records, which can capture information like a patient’s address, drug allergies and previous medical history, can help doctors and hospitals to increase the quality of care a patient receives, many also agree that the new system is far from perfect.

Weaknesses in the security and safeguarding of digital medical records are especially disturbing when combined with a push from the federal government to have hospitals and healthcare providers comply with the transition to digital record keeping. Congress provided $27 billion in the 2009 stimulus package specifically to encourage doctors and hospitals to use digital health record systems. Doctors and other providers who do not transition to digital records will face steep cuts to the amount of Medicare fees they can receive, starting in 2015. A few S.C.-based companies and universities are developing systems and technology to help the State stay current in the advance of the digital healthcare wave.

Many experts and patient advocates agree that consumers need more access to, and better understanding of, their digital medical records. Patients also need to be able to monitor their records more closely, to keep false, unclear or inappropriate information from being shared. Unfortunately, recent studies of current systems show many serious gaps in quality and ease of use. Even if a patient can see a complete medical record, which is often not the case, the records are very technical and full of jargon.

A huge risk is how much of a patient’s private information, medical or not, could be viewed by someone outside the healthcare system. The author of a major report on medical system flaws, Arthur B. Robinson, PhD, writes that even though “we are assured that this information is protected by privacy software, there is a constant stream of news about failures of this software.” These security failures are also a major risk for consumers with the presence of data collection agencies which constantly search, or ‘troll,’ the internet for personal information. These agencies then collect and sell personal information to anybody who can pay for it.

Contact The Louthian Law Firm

If you or someone you care about has been injured by the carelessness of a medical professional, you should speak with an experienced South Carolina medical malpractice attorney like the ones at the Louthian Law Firm as soon as possible. Our attorneys can help you evaluate your case; protect your legal right to the courts; and stand by your side throughout the legal process.

For a free consultation, call the Columbia SC Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Louthian Law Firm today. Toll free: (866) 454-1200. Locally: (803) 454-1200. You can also fill out our confidential online case evaluation form.

South Carolina, ranked sixth in the nation in infant mortality, has announced a new effort to reduce infant mortality by ensuring the health of mothers on Medicaid. Physicians, hospitals and state agencies will help mothers seek treatment for substance abuse, depression and domestic violence.

The program, entitled Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT), provides reimbursement and a questionnaire for use with each pregnant Medicaid patient. Domestic violence victims and survivors were targeted because they have a higher murder rate and rate of drug and alcohol abuse. South Carolina is ranked 7th in the nation for domestic violence.

South Carolina suffers from historically high infant mortality rates in part due to high poverty levels. According to America's Health Rankings, SC is 45th in children in poverty at 25.7%. Only 66.5% of mothers receive early prenatal care. Lack of adequate early prenatal care can contribute to premature births and increase death rates.

Though infant death rates in South Carolina have improved over the past eleven years, South Carolina still faces a significant challenge in providing complete and adequate care for expecting mothers. Low income non-white mothers, especially, face challenges in accessing adequate care. Given the budget and health care accessibility challenges in South Carolina, the success of SBIRT is yet to be determined. The program begins in March 2012.

About The Louthian Law Firm
The Louthian Law Firm, P.A., of Columbia, S.C., has been obtaining fair compensation for personal injury victims since 1959. The firm was founded by Herbert Louthian, who has more than 50 years of trial experience and is licensed to practice in all courts in South Carolina. In addition to whistleblower claims, the Louthian Law Firm handles personal injury cases involving medical malpractice; car, truck and motorcycle accidents; and other serious and catastrophic injuries throughout South Carolina.

For a free, confidential case evaluation, contact the firm by phone at (866) 410-5656 or through its online form.

After repeated state budget cuts, South Carolina hospitals recently got good news from the federal government. The federal Partnership for Patients program will give South Carolina hospitals $1 million per year for at least the next two years to improve hospital quality.

Participating hospitals must reduce readmissions by 20 percent and hospital-acquired conditions by 40 percent. Readmissions are typically used to determine hospital quality. The higher the readmission rate, the more likely the patient was not ready for discharge or was ill-prepared for discharge. Death and injury rates are higher among readmitted patients.

Hospitals will also target hospital-acquired conditions like infections, adverse drug events, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, injuries from falls, and adverse obstetrical events among others.

"This is going to mean we’ll be able to move forward more aggressively toward making care safer for patients, and being able to have more resources to help hospitals accomplish that,” said Dr. Rick Foster, senior vice president for quality and patient safety at the South Carolina Hospital Association.

The additional funding nearly doubles what hospitals were already investing in improving patient safety. In a time of deep budget cuts across the state, the funding is much needed by the hospitals.

Partnership for Patients hopes the nationwide initiative will result in 1.8 million fewer injuries, 1.6 million fewer readmissions, and more than 60,000 lives saved.

Contact The Louthian Law Firm

If you or someone you care about has been injured by the carelessness of a medical professional, you should speak with an experienced South Carolina medical malpractice attorney like the ones at the Louthian Law Firm as soon as possible. Our attorneys can help you evaluate your case; protect your legal right to the courts; and stand by your side throughout the legal process.

For a free consultation, call the Columbia SC Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Louthian Law Firm today. Toll free: (866) 454-1200. Locally: (803) 454-1200. You can also fill out our confidential online case evaluation form.

The bad economic environment has prompted South Carolina's legislature to seek cuts from public programs. Eighteen hospitals will receive an 8% cut in their state funding. The hospitals have been recognized by the federal government for their treatment of the uninsured.

The cuts come at a time when the federal government is trying to reduce medical errors by investing in prevention. Health and Human Services (HHS) has pledged $1 billion to fund an initiative called Partnership for Patients.The program aims to reduce preventable injuries in hospitals by 40% and hospital readmission by 20 percent.The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid will also pledge up to $500 million to develop best practices and patient safety protocols.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius stated, “Reaching those targets would save up to $35 billion over the next 10 years. That's a return of up to $10 for each dollar we're investing.”

Because prevention of avoidable medical errors requires time, research and money, South Carolina's hospitals face a greater challenge in improving their error rates. Do the cuts mean that already overwhelmed staff will not be able to address safety issues that could potentially save their hospitals and the state millions of dollars? Medical errors often mean longer hospitalizations and poorer health outcomes. In what ways, both small and large, will patients suffer?

Carolinas Hospital's CEO Jim O'Loughlin issued a statement ensuring the public that the hospital is still dedicated to excellent service despite the cuts.

O'Loughlin also stated, "While we fully understand the budget constraints, we have always believed (as have other hospitals) that there are a myriad of more effective ways to reduce expenditures without reducing programs where there is a federal match of dollars for the care hospitals provide to patients covered by Medicaid."

Contact The Louthian Law Firm

If you or someone you care about has been injured by the carelessness of a medical professional, you should speak with an experienced South Carolina medical malpractice attorney like the ones at the Louthian Law Firm as soon as possible. Our attorneys can help you evaluate your case; protect your legal right to the courts; and stand by your side throughout the legal process.

For a free consultation, call the Columbia SC Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Louthian Law Firm today. Toll free: (866) 454-1200. Locally: (803) 454-1200. You can also fill out our confidential online case evaluation form.

In the battle against hospital acquired infections, a new tool has emerged: anti-microbial copper. Researchers, in a study funded by the US Department of Defense, installed the material on different hospital surfaces at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and two other US hospitals. The copper led to a bacteria decrease of 97% in operating rooms and a 41% decrease in hospital acquired infections.

The new technology holds strong promise for hospitals which have long struggled with hospital acquired infections. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that one in twenty hospital patients will contract an infection from the hospital with 98,987 deaths from hospital acquired infections in 2002. The infections cost the US approximately $28.4 to $33.8 billion.

At MUSC, researchers first tested and observed the intensive care unit to determine what surfaces were most frequently touched. Bed rails, call buttons, and chairs near patients had the highest number of bacteria growth with nearly 17,000 colonies per 100 square meters. The bacteria included MRSA, a medication-resistant infection known as the "superbug." Frequent cleaning only temporarily decreased the bacteria population. Researchers then installed the anti-microbial copper on the most-touched surfaces including over-bed tray tables, nurse call buttons, IV poles, nurses’ call devices, monitor bezels, and bed rails.

The copper's naturally anti-microbial properties killed 97% of bacteria and confirmed a link between reducing microbial levels in hospitals and a reduction in infections. MUSC professor Michael Schmidt is not surprised by the success of the copper.

Schmidt states, “The anti-microbial nature of copper has been used by humans for millennia. It has been used for sanitizing water in ancient and modern times...”

For more information on whether specific SC hospitals have successfully reduced their hospital acquired infections, see the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control's website. SC hospitals are required to submit their infection rates twice a year.

Contact The Louthian Law Firm

If you or someone you care about has been injured by the carelessness of a medical professional, you should speak with an experienced South Carolina medical malpractice attorney like the ones at the Louthian Law Firm as soon as possible. Our attorneys can help you evaluate your case; protect your legal right to the courts; and stand by your side throughout the legal process.

For a free consultation, call the Columbia SC Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Louthian Law Firm today. Toll free: (866) 454-1200. Locally: (803) 454-1200. You can also fill out our confidential online case evaluation form.

The Palmetto state barely received a "D" from the March of Dimes for the high rate of babies born prematurely. South Carolina, which received an "F" in 2010, was only 0.1% away from receiving an "F" in 2011. Of all births in South Carolina in 2011, 14.5% were premature, making the state the fifth worse in the country.

The March of Dimes, in their report on South Carolina, writes that the state is "moving in the wrong direction" on two fronts: the rate of uninsured women and late-preterm births. The number of uninsured women moved from 22% in 2010 to 24% in 2011. The report calls for expanded coverage for women of childbearing age because "health care before and during pregnancy can help identify and manage conditions that contribute to premature birth."

The rate of late-preterm births, births at 34-36 weeks, has increased slightly in South Carolina. Full-term births are 39 weeks. In 2010, the rate was 9.7%; in 2011, it is 10%. The March of Dimes links late-preterm births with early labor induction and C-sections. The organization calls on hospitals and health care professionals to increase consistency in how early induction and C-sections are treated before 39 weeks. South Carolina has tried to improve its late-preterm rates with an agreement to end early voluntary C-sections; half of SC hospitals have signed the agreement.

Preterm births, or births before 37 weeks, are the leading cause of infant death in the United States. Preterm babies face significant and potentially long-term risks including intellectual and physical disabilities. The United States has one of the worst rates of infant death in the industrialized world. To combat this trend, the federal government developed the Healthy People 2020 goals. The goals include decreasing the national rate of premature births to 11.4%. The March of Dimes stated goal is 9.6%. Only one state, Vermont, with a preterm birth rate of 9.3%, received an "A" from the March of Dimes.

At the Louthian Law Firm, we've been handling personal injury cases in South Carolina since 1959. We have extensive experience in all areas of personal injury law and we're committed to putting that experience to work for you, while offering the personal service and understanding that families in crisis need.

To schedule a free case evaluation, call the Louthian Law Firm today at (866) 454-1200 or (803) 454-1200. You can also contact us online.

A South Carolina health care group has received an $11.25 million grant from the Duke Endowment to improve patient care through data collection. The group, Health Sciences South Carolina, is a statewide biomedical research collaborative composed of several hospital systems and three universities.

Dr. Iain Sanderson, Health Sciences' chief medical informatics officer, said, "Our goal is to enable an explosion of public health research."

The grant will allow the organization to centralize and analyze information from studies across their hospitals. Researchers hope to analyze the information for clues into the effectiveness of different physician interventions.

A previous $25 million grant from Duke Endowment allowed the group to set up an electronic health record system. The system allows physicians to keep track of patients as they moved across different points of care. Previous studies have shown that lack of communication and timely information has been a key cause of medical errors.

South Carolina, like the rest of the nation, has struggled with how to provide effective care with minimal errors. Health Sciences has attempted to reduce medical errors through clinical research and their Healthcare Quality Trust, which identifies causes and solutions to preventable hospital infections.

The new grant allows health care providers to continue and expand their research, potentially pinpointing areas where patient safety is at risk.

Contact The Louthian Law Firm

If you or someone you care about has been injured by the carelessness of a medical professional, you should speak with an experienced South Carolina medical malpractice attorney like the ones at the Louthian Law Firm as soon as possible. Our attorneys can help you evaluate your case; protect your legal right to the courts; and stand by your side throughout the legal process.

For a free consultation, call the Columbia SC Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Louthian Law Firm today. Toll free: (866) 454-1200. Locally: (803) 454-1200. You can also fill out our confidential online case evaluation form.

A recent survey of U.S. physicians found that the majority (52%) believed the current level of care their patients receive is sufficient. However, media outlets and policy makers have focused on the minority (28%) who believe they are personally over-treating patients.

The report, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, tries to argue that the fear of malpractice suits is a driver for high health care costs.

The report cites that 42% of surveyed physicians believe that patients in their practice are receiving too much care. An analysis of the figures, however, shows that only 28% believe they personally are treating patients too aggressively. An overlapping 29% believe that others-- in their personal opinion--are giving too much care. The 29% figure doesn't show a trend of over-care, but rather focuses on perception, not fact.

The report also hones in on malpractice as a large driver of over-treatment. A majority of respondents (76%) cited malpractice as the primary cause of defensive medicine. Second, at 52%, was doctor concern about quality. Again, these questions were of perception. Studies have shown that physician fear of malpractice suits is highly disproportionate to actual rate of payouts to patients. Traditionally, the American Medical Association and other lobbying groups have pushed for malpractice caps and reform as a means to lessen physician anxiety and decrease over-practice. Studies have concluded that, despite an overall decrease in payouts, physicians appear to have grown more nervous.

The survey also sampled only 627 physicians or less than 1% of the nearly 1 million physicians active in 2009. The survey size is too small to be representative of true trends in health care. The report provides a specific snapshot of certain perceptions for a certain segment, but attempts to generalize the findings exist on shaky ground.

The Louthian Law Firm, P.A., South Carolina Personal Injury Lawyers, has been helping South Carolina medical malpractice and personal injury victims obtain fair compensation for their injuries since 1959. We provide each of our clients with individual attention.

If you believe you or someone you care about was hurt by medical malpractice in South Carolina, contact the Louthian Law Firm today. Call us toll free at (866) 454-1200 or locally at (803) 454-1200. You can also contact our South Carolina personal injury lawyers online for a free evaluation of your case.

Forty-five hospitals in South Carolina intend to sign an agreement to end elective C-sections before the 39th week of pregnancy. Pregnancies are normally 40 weeks long. Some experts believe that a good national average for caesareans is 4.5 percent. The United States had 31 percent, or one in three deliveries via C-section, in 2007.

The rate of elective C-sections as opposed to caesareans for medical reasons appears relatively low. A 2006 survey by the Childbirth Connection found that only one of 1,600 surveyed first-time mothers elected to have a caesarean for no medical reason. Childbirth Connection argues that the increasing rate of C-section deliveries is not due to a mother's desire, but instead from a medical and hospital culture that favors quicker births.

In South Carolina, 8 percent, or 2,500 of Medicaid-paid pregnancies, use elective C-section, according to an Associated Press article.

Hospitals expect taxpayers to save money with the new agreement. Early births via C-section can result in newborns that are not fully developed, with a resulting increase in the cost of medical care.

At the Louthian Law Firm, we've been handling personal injury cases in South Carolina since 1959. We have extensive experience in all areas of personal injury law and we're committed to putting that experience to work for you, while offering the personal service and understanding that families in crisis need.

To schedule a free case evaluation, call the Louthian Law Firm today at (866) 454-1200 or (803) 454-1200. You can also contact us online.

A physician’s assistant (PA) was found negligent in the death of a 42-year-old woman from congestive heart failure less than two months after giving birth to twins at The McDowell Hospital in Marion, NC. The lawsuit was brought by the husband who claimed the defendants did not do all they could to save the life of his wife.

The man will be awarded $667,000 in the case where he was seeking $6.8 million. The suit was filed against seven doctors, one physician’s assistant, Asheville Radiology, The McDowell Hospital and McDowell Emergency Physicians. Most of the defendants settled out of court, however, two doctors, the PA and McDowell Emergency Physicians took the case to court.

The woman was diagnosed with pneumonia after giving birth, in February, 2008, and was prescribed a medication for treatment upon her discharge. Suffering from shortness of breath and nausea, the woman returned to the emergency room several times within the following weeks and was again treated for pneumonia. She was later admitted to the hospital where she was found to have congestive heart failure. She died several weeks later after suffering a stroke.

The suit claimed the PA failed to perform appropriate tests and failed to appreciate the signs and symptoms of the woman's condition, among other charges. The PA was the only one found negligent by the jury.

The Columbia, SC Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Louthian Law Firm have many years of experience in medical malpractice cases and we are committed to providing personal service and to obtaining fair compensation for all our clients. Call us at 866-454-1200 or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form.

Medical Malpractice

The Des Moines Register reports that the state of Iowa has settled a lawsuit filed against the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics after a young girl went to the hospital in 2007 for a stomach surgery, and had to have her leg amputated after she developed compartment syndrome.

The state will pay $875,000 to the now 16-year-old girl who had her right leg amputated and her left leg now suffers a permanent foot drop. The suit alleged that the girl’s legs were elevated for over 10 hours causing increased pressure to build in her leg muscle compartments leading to muscle and nerve damage.

The hospital is overseen by the Iowa Board of Regents and the State Appeals Board had to approve the settlement.

The Columbia, SC Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Louthian Law Firm have many years of experience in medical malpractice cases and we are committed to providing personal service and to obtaining fair compensation for all our clients. Call us at 866-454-1200 or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form.

The Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida paid $650,000 to settle a lawsuit against a man with a "retained foreign object and medication error." The man also reached a confidential settlement against two radiologists.

The now 68-year-old man was admitted to the hospital in October 2009 to undergo surgery for diverticulitis. His recovery was slow, and after five months he was in more pain than prior to his surgery. He went back to the doctor and had several X-rays and CT scans before the surgeon and gastrointestinal doctor found a sponge in his stomach that had been left behind during surgery.

The man declined further treatment at Good Samaritan and went to another hospital to have the sponge removed and a portion of his intestines, due to perforation. The man also received an incorrect dosage of blood pressure medicine, however, he did not have any lasting issues over that error.

The doctor, two radiologists and the hospital were all sued for the errors. A settlement with the doctor is still pending.

The Columbia, SC Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Louthian Law Firm have many years of experience in medical malpractice cases and we are committed to providing personal service and to obtaining fair compensation for all our clients. Call us at 1-866-454-1200 or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form.

Medical Malpractice

The Colorado Springs, city-owned Memorial Health System settled a lawsuit filed by an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who claimed her baby suffered severe brain injuries during delivery four years ago. The now four-year-old is a spastic quadriplegic who cannot stand, sit or walk, and has the intellectual level of a six-month-old.

The city paid $700,000 to the child because the care provided by the Memorial nurses and the doctor “fell below the standard of care” by failing to properly interpret fetal heart monitoring strips that showed the baby in distress during labor, having the mother hold her breath which further depleted the oxygen going to the baby and delivering the baby vaginally rather than performing a cesarean section.

The lawsuit only covered the negligence by the nurses. The doctor is employed by Peak Vista Community Health Centers which is a Federally Qualified Health Center. As such, the lawsuit against the doctor will be handled through federal court. A trial date has not yet been scheduled, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which is defending the federal government, has requested a settlement offer.

The Columbia, SC Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Louthian Law Firm have many years of experience in medical malpractice cases and we are committed to providing personal service and to obtaining fair compensation for all our clients. Call us at 866-454-1200 or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form.

Medical Malpractice

A 67-year-old Ithaca, New York woman was awarded $1.25 million after a jury found her surgeon negligent when a 2007 gallbladder operation left her gravely ill and fighting for her life. The surgeon at Cayuga Medical Center had been practicing for over 15 years when found at fault.

The woman entered the hospital complaining of an upset stomach when she was told her gallbladder needed to be removed. The woman’s bowel was unintentionally cut during surgery, yet the surgeon did not inspect the bowel for injury prior to completing the surgical procedure.

Almost immediately the woman became severely ill, exhibiting multiple signs of infection. 32 hours after the first operation, she was operated on again to find the source of the infection, and then to repair the injured bowel. The woman also underwent four more surgeries, needed a ventilator, and spent two months in the intensive care unit.

The jury found the surgeon negligent in failing to check the woman’s bowel for injury during the gallbladder surgery, and negligent in failing to promptly diagnose the injury, leading to substantial injury. The award included $250,000 for medical, hospital and rehabilitative care, and $1 million for pain and suffering for past and future losses.

The Columbia, SC Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Louthian Law Firm have many years of experience in medical malpractice cases and we are committed to providing personal service and to obtaining fair compensation for all our clients. Call us at 1-866-454-1200 or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form.

Medical Malpractice

The widow of a man who died in 2005 after an ATV accident was awarded $6.7 million by a Maine jury in a medical malpractice lawsuit against Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. The man was flown to the center after the accident, and according to the lawsuit, the doctors failed to follow up on tests indicating internal bleeding, that ultimately led to the man's death.

The man arrived at the hospital suffering from several broken ribs, among other injuries, and CT scans ordered by the emergency department physician indicated there was also internal bleeding. The doctors caring for the man failed to follow up on the internal bleeding by not issuing an order for X-rays to monitor the bleeding, according to the suit. Three days later, the internal bleeding caused one of the man's lungs to collapse, and the lack of oxygen precipitated a massive fatal heart attack.

The jury found that Eastern Maine Medical Center, its doctors and nurses, and the lead physician were negligent in the man's death.

The award most likely will be reduced due to a cap enacted by the Legislature, although the cap in place at the time of the man's death will apply.

The Columbia, SC Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Louthian Law Firm have many years of experience in medical malpractice cases and we are committed to providing personal service and to obtaining fair compensation for all our clients. Call us at 1-866-454-1200 or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form.

Maine Medical Malpractice Case

A Durham woman has filed a lawsuit against a Durham dentist alleging medical malpractice and battery for pulling 24 teeth from her mouth instead of the 6 she agreed to have pulled.

In 2007, the 18-year-old woman went to Durham Family Dental Care to have four wisdom teeth and two molars pulled by Ilias Haralambakis, but when she woke up and the sedation medication had worn off, she found many more teeth had been pulled.

She is left with six bottom teeth and only two top teeth. She wears only her top dentures because the bottom ones don’t fit, and she is unable to eat certain foods. She claims she can’t teach her young son how to brush his teeth because she has none herself.

The complaint states she has suffered "excruciating pain," her jaw locks up on a regular basis, and she acquired a painful infection in her mouth following the extraction of the teeth.

The Columbia, SC Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Louthian Law Firm have many years of experience in medical malpractice cases and we are committed to providing personal service and to obtaining fair compensation for all our clients. Call us at 1-866-454-1200 or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form.

Medical Malpractice

A 67-year-old man has been awarded $212 million by a Virginia jury in a lawsuit against Allergan Inc. claiming he suffered brain damage following injections of Botox to treat hand tremors and writer’s cramp. The award included $12 million in compensatory damages.

Botox is widely known as a wrinkle-smoothing drug made by Allergan. In 2007, Douglas Ray was injected with Botox and alleges the injection caused severe medical problems that have left him totally disabled and with over $600,000 in medical bills. He requires around-the-clock care.

Allergen is considering an appeal.

If you believe you or a member of your family has been harmed by an unsafe prescription drug, contact the Louthian Law Firm today at 1-866-454-1200 or contact us online for a free evaluation of your case.

Personal Injury

A Northampton woman has been awarded $400,000 in her malpractice suit against a Bethlehem doctor who did not diagnose her breast cancer properly. The jury found Dr. Mark Schadt negligent in his care of the woman.

In April 2004 she found two lumps in her breasts, and in May Dr. Schadt performed a fine-needle aspiration biopsy and the results were negative for breast cancer. In March 2005 the patient had a second fine-needle biopsy and the results were positive. A month later, after having an excisional biopsy, she was told she had invasive carcinoma stage III cancer. She had a radical mastectomy on the cancerous right breast and a simple mastectomy on her left breast.

The lawsuit alleged Dr. Shadt should have followed the first biopsy with a more complete biopsy that would have removed a larger tissue sample to test.

The Columbia SC Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Louthian Law Firm have many years of experience in medical malpractice cases and we are committed to providing personal service and to obtaining fair compensation for all our clients. Call us at 1-866-454-1200 or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form.

Medical Malpractice

A Winchester, Va. Woman has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit over a colonoscopy she had in 2009 which has continued to cause her medical problems, reports the Northern Virginia Daily.

The then 29-year-old woman went to the doctor in 2009 to evaluate persistent diarrhea. Following the “prep” for the procedure, she had severe abdominal pain, cramping, nausea and vomiting. After prescribing something for the pain, the doctor proceeded with the procedure without knowing what was causing her pain. That same day she had to be admitted to intensive care, two days later underwent a second colonoscopy during which her colon was perforated, and had to have emergency surgery to repair the perforation and to remove the obstructed part of the colon.

The patient is seeking $5 million in damages from Dr. Richard John Sears and Winchester Gastroenterology Associates PLC claiming Dr. Sears breached his duty of care by proceeding with the first colonoscopy and then performed a second colonoscopy when a CT scan would have revealed a significant “stricture” that required surgery.

The suit also claims Sears performed both procedures without the patient’s consent and did not describe the risks or alternatives, caused the second perforation to the colon that developed into sepsis and failed to keep her from aspirating brown fecal-like material among other medical problems.

The Columbia SC Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Louthian Law Firm have many years of experience in medical malpractice cases and we are committed to providing personal service and to obtaining fair compensation for all our clients. Call us at 1-866-454-1200 or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form.

Medical Malpractice

The husband of a woman who died while giving birth to triplets in 2007 has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit as a result of her death, reports News Channel 3 in Comstock Township, Michigan.

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A Virgo County, Indiana jury has awarded $2.5 million to a now 42-year-old former police officer whose doctor failed to diagnose his colon cancer in 2004. The Tribune Star reports the lawsuit was filed against Dr. John Morse of AP&S Clinic in Terre Haute, Indiana in January 2009.

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The husband of a woman who is the fourth Southern California patient to die following a Lap-Band surgical procedure has filed a medical malpractice and wrongful death lawsuit, reports the LA Times.

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A three-and-a-half-year-old girl is blind and has cerebral palsy after she was given 100 times the dose of nutrients 15 days after she was born in 2007, claimed the lawsuit filed in Lee County by her parents. The family has been awarded $19.2 million in the suit that could be the first of its kind for Lee County, reports station 2RSWFlorida.

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PostStar.com reports a Warren County state Supreme Court has found a doctor should pay $3 million for injuries a now 18-year-old girl suffered during her birth.

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The Louisiana Record reports a lawsuit has been filed in federal court in New Orleans against Ochsner Clinic Foundation by a former patient over a surgical sponge left in his abdomen following surgery for rectal cancer.

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Florida’s Sun Sentinel reports a 45-year-old man who was diagnosed in 2004 with Lyme disease later learned he was suffering from a rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and that the cancer had spread.

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Dr. John Henry Fairbanks has been ordered to pay a Natchez man $511,000 for medical bills and suffering caused by his negligence during knee replacement surgery, reports the Natchez Democrat.

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A woman formerly from New Hampshire is suing two doctors and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Nashua for $5 million alleging they failed to diagnose and treat her bacterial meningitis which left her permanently disabled, reports The Telegraph.

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The Chicago Sun-Times reports a Pilsen woman has been awarded $3.27 million by a Cook County jury in her lawsuit against the Northwestern Memorial Physicians Group and the doctor who delivered her baby.

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The family of a 36-year-old woman who bled to death after having her first child by caesarean section has been awarded $4.6 million by a Wright County jury, reports the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

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The News-Castle, of central Illinois, reports a Champaign County judge has approved a $12 million out-of-court settlement for a woman who was left severely brain-damaged during her labor on December 27, 2002.

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An Indiana woman has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against a licensed nurse practitioner and The Louisiana Medical Center and Heart Hospital regarding the death of her husband, reports the Louisiana Record.

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An Horry County, South Carolina jury awarded $3 million to a man in the death of his wife caused when she went into septic shock and died about 48 hours after being discharged from the Grand Strand Regional Medical Center emergency room. The lawsuit claimed that the hospital failed to run all the necessary tests and did not take the patient's temperature after an initial check when she arrived in January 2002.

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A Nashua, New Hampshire couple will receive $1.25 million in a settlement with Tufts Medical Center in a medical malpractice suit filed after the man's 2003 kidney transplant went wrong. The patient received a perfect-match donor kidney from his brother, but the kidney failed after only a week.

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Shands at the University of Florida was ordered to pay $6.2 million to the family of a professor who died during a CT scan of his lungs in 2002. The 41-year-old man underwent gastric bypass weight loss surgery when he developed breathing difficulties 5 days later. He died during the CT process.

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A Virginia woman was awarded a $3 million medical malpractice verdict against a local gynecologist after her hysterectomy went terribly wrong. Due to a state law capping such awards, the judge reduced the award to $1.9 million.

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A $2.45 million judgment was awarded to the estate of a woman who died after being treated for ovarian cancer during a four-year period when she actually had PMP, a rare cancer of the abdomen. The woman succumbed to cancer in January 2009. The suit was brought against Stamford Hospital doctors Iris Wertheim and Isodore Tepler.

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A 78-year-old woman, who suffered from burns and permanent scars after a medical device was placed too near her supplementary oxygen and later exploded, has been awarded $1.2 million by a Macomb County, Michigan jury.

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The Post-Standard reports a New York state Supreme Court jury has awarded a home-care nurse almost $1.7 million for permanent nerve damage following her baby's birth three years ago.

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The Baltimore Sun reports a 53-year-old woman has won $3.5 million in her medical malpractice suit against Vascular Surgery Associates and two of its surgeons.

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South Florida News reports that former wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins, O. J. McDuffie, has been awarded $11.5 million against the team's doctor over a career-ending toe injury.

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The Clinton Herald reports a Clinton County (Iowa) jury has awarded $1 million to a teen-aged girl who alleged a doctor was negligent in treating her asthma in 2005.

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A Mississippi woman whose leg had to be amputated after she had knee replacement surgery won $579,789 in a medical malpractice suit against Forrest General Hospital, reports the Hattiesburg American.

In 1998, the then 69-year-old woman's knee was dislocated when her foot got caught under her wheelchair as a nurse was taking her to the restroom following the first knee replacement surgery. After the incident, additional surgeries including another knee replacement were required. She then developed an infection which led to her leg being amputated.

The lawsuit was filed in 1999, but the verdict wasn't handed down until April 14, 2010.

The Columbia SC Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Louthian Law Firm have many years of experience in medical malpractice cases and we are committed to providing personal service and to obtaining fair compensation for all our clients. Call us at 1-866-410-5656 or fill out out our confidential online case evaluation form.

Medical Malpractice

According to the Associated Press, a jury has awarded parents $1.6 million in their medical malpractice lawsuit filed following their son's death on an Eastern Connecticut State University basketball court.

The 22-year-old senior collapsed during a basketball game in 2005. The parents alleged the doctor who examined him in 2001 should have found the congenital heart defect known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The doctor found him to be in excellent health and signed his college medical form.

The doctor scheduled an echocardiogram for the young man after the examination, but he did not show up for the test.

The Columbia SC Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Louthian Law Firm have many years of experience in medical malpractice cases and we are committed to providing personal service and to obtaining fair compensation for all our clients. Call us at 1-866-410-5656 or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form.

College Basketball Player Death

The Associated Press reports an Ohio woman is suing her Pennsylvania plastic surgeon for $300,000 after she used the wrong breast implants.

According to the patient, even though she had chosen silicone implants on her doctor's advice, saline implants were used instead because they were the only kind the surgeon's office had in stock at the time of the surgery. After realizing the mistake, the doctor consulted the patient's fiance and he told her to continue with the surgery even though he did not have the power to make the decision.

The lawsuit claims the doctor committed medical battery, medical malpractice, intentional infliction of emotional distress and false imprisonment for keeping her under anesthesia longer than necessary while trying to correct the mistake.

The Columbia, South Carolina medical malpractice lawyers at Louthian Law Firm have many years of experience in medical malpractice cases and we are committed to providing personal service and to obtaining fair compensation for all our clients. Call us at 1-866-410-5656 or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form.

Medical Malpractice

The Washington Post reports a jury has awarded $3 million to the family of a man who died after being misdiagnosed as having a hiatal hernia.

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A West Virginia man is suing Dr. Jonathan M. Zuniga and Kidney Associates for medical malpractice for failing to diagnose his cancer, reports The West Virginia Record.

From September 2002 to January 2008, he visited the clinic at least 20 times seeking medical care and treatment, the newspaper reports. Due to his unresolved medical issues, on February 7, 2008, he saw another physician and was diagnosed with cancer of the bladder, according to the article.

The lawsuit alleges the defendants were negligent because they failed to diagnose the man's cancer, perform tests to determine cancer and fail to notice significant changes in his blood tests. As a result, he claims he has suffered physical and personal damages that would not have occurred if he had been diagnosed earlier.

The Columbia SC Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Louthian Law Firm have many years of experience in medical malpractice cases and we are committed to providing personal service and to obtaining fair compensation for all our clients. Call us at 1-866-410-5656 or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form.

Cancer Misdiagnosis

A Suffolk County jury has found two doctors at Children's Hospital Boston caused the death of a 3-year-old boy and must pay his parents $15 million, reports the Boston Globe. This is an unusual amount for a medical malpractice case involving death -- settlements this large are more usual for severely injured patients requiring years of expensive treatment.

The Pennsylvania boy was born with Tetralogy of Fallot, a complex but treatable birth defect which affects the flow of blood through the heart. After several surgeries to try to widen the arteries carrying blood to his heart, the young boy was referred to another doctor who performed a catheterization. Within hours of this surgery the boy suffered a seizure found to be caused by contrast dye used in the surgery leaking into his brain.

During an MRI a tiny piece of metal -- probably from a medical instrument -- was found to be lodged in his brain. When released from the hospital, the boy was unable to walk or speak.

He died in December 2004.

The Columbia SC Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Louthian Law Firm have many years of experience in medical malpractice cases and we are committed to providing personal service and to obtaining fair compensation for all our clients. Call us at 1-866-410-5656 or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form.

Medical Malpractice Verdict

A patient who received an overdose of radiation during a CT scan at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center has filed a lawsuit against the hospital and General Electric Healthcare, maker of the scanner.

The lawsuit claims negligence on the part of the hospital and the manufacturer in regards to performing the scans. The equipment error went undetected for 18 months and involved 206 patients who received eight times the normal dose of radiation.

In addition to negligence, the lawsuit alleges medical malpractice, product liability, and breach of warranty.

The Columbia SC Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Louthian Law Firm have many years of experience in medical malpractice cases and we are committed to providing personal service and to obtaining fair compensation for all our clients. Call us at 1-866-410-5656 or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form.

Cedars-Sinai Radiation Overdose

The Green Bay Press Gazette reports a Brown County, Wisconsin jury has awarded the family of a farm worker $3.7 million in their medical malpractice lawsuit.

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The family of a 47-year-old woman has accepted a $3 million settlement against University Diagnostic Medical Imaging and two Bronx doctors for not notifying her of her mammogram results. Her mammograms showed possible breast cancer.

The technician, who suspected breast cancer during the woman’s routine mammograms in 2001 and 2002, recommended an MRI and sent the results to her doctor, Dr. Karim. The results were never given to the patient and no follow up tests were conducted.

In 2004, when she found a lump in her breast, it was too late. The cancer had spread to both breasts and her liver. She died in March 2007.

The Columbia SC Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Louthian Law Firm have many years of experience in medical malpractice cases and we are committed to providing personal service and to obtaining fair compensation for all our clients. Call us at 1-866-410-5656 or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form.

Medical Malpractice

A $7.3 million award has been returned by a Los Angeles jury in a lawsuit alleging Cedars-Sinai Medical Center was negligent, reports the Enquirer-Herald.

The lawsuit was filed in 2005 by the parents of a baby who was misdiagnosed by doctors at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The lawsuit claimed the doctors in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit failed to quickly diagnose and treat the baby for meningitis. As a result of the delay in treatment, the child suffered irreversible brain damage.

The Columbia, SC Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Louthian Law Firm have many years of experience in medical malpractice cases and we are committed to providing personal service and to obtaining fair compensation for all our clients. Call us at 1-866-410-5656 or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form.

Medical Malpractice Verdict

USA Today reports a federal judge has upheld most of the $8.5 million he awarded in a medical misdiagnosis case.

In 2002, a doctor at Scott Air Force Base, in southern Illinois, misdiagnosed the ex-wife of a captain when she came to him with a rash on her arm and he assumed she was an addict wanting prescription drugs.

The rash turned out to be a flesh eating bacteria. The woman lost the use of her arm and was awarded $8.5 million by a federal judge.

The government requested the award for damages be cut by over $1 million, but the judge let most of the original award stand and cut the damages by less than $63,000.

Medical malpractice is essentially when health care professionals make a mistake that harms the patient they are supposed to help.

The Columbia SC Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Louthian Law Firm have many years of experience in medical malpractice cases and we are committed to providing personal service and to obtaining fair compensation for all our clients. Call us at 1-866-410-5656 or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form.

Medical Malpractice Case

A Palm Beach County, Fla. jury has awarded $4 million to a family whose child was born with severe mental retardation more than 11 years ago at a Florida Hospital.

The family's lawsuit contended that problems getting an operating room led to several hours of delay. They alleged their son suffered permanent brain damage that led to cerebral palsy and mental retardation because of the delay. The defendants argued that the complications came from the premature birth.

Following a seven-week trial, the jury concluded the hospital's then-owner had been negligent in its care of the child.

If you or someone you care about has been injured by the carelessness of a South Carolina medical professional, you should speak with an experienced South Carolina medical malpractice attorney like the ones at the Louthian Law Firm as soon as possible. Our attorneys can help you evaluate your case; protect your legal right to the courts; and stand by your side throughout the legal process. For a free consultation, call the Columbia SC Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Louthian Law Firm today at 1-866-410-5656 or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form.

Florida Birth Injury Verdict

At an emergency meeting on March 11, 2009, the Medical Board of Nevada is meeting to consider suspending the license of a Las Vegas surgeon after he has been accused of multiple counts of dangerous conduct, reports the Las Vegas Sun. Most of the doctor’s incidents have occurred at Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center.

The senior deputy attorney general who works with the osteopathic board states “there’s a pattern of abuse” associated with this doctor that “is detrimental to the public. The surgeon’s reported major errors date back to 2006 and include two deaths and severe complications for three others patients. The surgeon was previously suspended by the hospital.

Medical malpractice is essentially when health care professionals make a mistake that harms a patient they’re supposed to help. If you or someone you love has been a victim of medical malpractice, you should speak with an experienced South Carolina medical malpractice attorney like the ones at the Louthian Law Firm. For a free consultation, please call 1-866-410-5656 or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form.

Las Vegas Medical License Review

Radiologists who work in breast imaging estimate their chances of being sued as four times higher than the actual number of lawsuits, reports the American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS), the nation’s oldest radiology society.

The University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine in Seattle, WA, released the results of studies conducted in 2002 and 2006. The new study appears in the February 2009 issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

Failure to find breast cancer remains one of the leading causes of medical malpractice lawsuits. If you or someone you care about has been injured by the carelessness of a medical professional, you should speak with an experienced South Carolina medical malpractice attorney at the Louthian Law Firm as soon as possible. We will help you evaluate your case, protect your legal rights, and stand by your side throughout the legal process. Call the Columbia SC Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Louthian Law Firm today for your free consultation at 1-866-410-5656.

Radiologist Malpractice Lawsuits

A Pennsylvania jury has awarded $20.5 million to a family after alleged mistakes made during childbirth led to serious medical problems for their newborn son.

The family will receive $2 million for health care expenses and related costs while the son, who is developmentally impaired, will receive $18.5 million on his 18th birthday for lost earnings, pain and suffering and medical expenses.

If you or someone you care about has been injured by the carelessness of a medical professional, you should speak with an experienced South Carolina medical malpractice attorney like the ones at the Louthian Law Firm as soon as possible. Our attorneys can help you evaluate your case; protect your legal right to the courts; and stand by your side throughout the legal process. For a free consultation, call the Columbia SC Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Louthian Law Firm today at 1-866-410-5656.

Pennsylvania Malpractice Verdict

A Lexington, KY hairdresser who became paraplegic after a routine heart surgery has been awarded $9.89 million in the largest medical malpractice verdict ever in Fayette County.

The plaintiff had valve surgery in April 2006. The surgery took less than an hour and was successful, but medical experts testified that the surgeon misplaced a hose to a machine that pumps blood during the surgery, causing too much blood and oxygen to be pumped to her right hand -- and too little to her brain and thoracic spinal cord.

If you or someone you care about has been injured by the carelessness of a medical professional, you should speak with an experienced South Carolina medical malpractice attorney like the ones at the Louthian Law Firm as soon as possible. Our attorneys can help you evaluate your case; protect your legal right to the courts; and stand by your side throughout the legal process. For a free consultation, call the Columbia SC Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Louthian Law Firm today at 1-866-410-5656.

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A Spokane, Wash. jury has awarded $14.8 million to a woman who alleged a local dentist was negligent in a series of jaw surgeries in 2000 and 2001 that left her permanently disabled.

Medical and dental malpractice is a politically charged issue, which has led to an extremely complex set of state laws governing malpractice lawsuits. If you or someone you care about has been injured by the carelessness of a medical professional, you should speak with an experienced South Carolina medical malpractice attorney like the ones at the Louthian Law Firm as soon as possible.

Our attorneys can help you evaluate your case; protect your legal right to the courts; and stand by your side throughout the legal process. For a free consultation, call the Columbia SC Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Louthian Law Firm today at 1-866-410-5656.

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As medical malpractice and birth injury attorneys, we’re interested in major developments in medical malpractice law. Recently, we ran across two major cases (in a legal publication that we can’t link to, unfortunately) that were serious enough to share.

One is a case of birth injuries to a child in New York City who was left with brain injuries, seizures, spastic quadriplegia, cerebral palsy and profound mental retardation after doctors allegedly made serious mistakes during his delivery. After fetal monitoring showed problems, doctors ordered a caesarian section. The attending pediatrician did not show up, and was replaced by an intern who had been out of school for only one month. This intern, the baby’s family contended, failed to recognize signs showing the baby had breathed in amniotic fluid and wastes, a condition called meconium aspiration that deprived his brain of vital oxygen. In fact, said the plaintiff, the intern may have even driven the fluids deeper into the child’s lungs by applying pressure incorrectly.

The baby was not treated for meconium aspiration until the following day, said the plaintiffs, and may have died if he had not been transferred to another hospital. He was treated in the neonatal ICU for two months, said the lawsuit, and will require daily care for the rest of his life. The case was settled out of court for $3 million, which must cover the family’s past and current medical bills as well as provide a future income for this gravely disadvantaged child.

The second case involves a 55-year-old Philadelphia man whose doctor failed to diagnose a dislocated right shoulder. This was an especially big problem because the man had lost the use of his left arm to a stroke. The man had been in a car accident; an orthopedic surgeon and a radiologist failed to recognize the injury from x-rays. After pain medication and physical therapy didn’t help, the patient found another orthopedic surgeon, who ordered more x-rays and found the dislocation. As a result of the delay in treatment, the patient needed surgery and was left with a limited range of motion in his right arm -- the only arm that still worked. Because of this disability, he now needs help with everyday tasks like getting dressed; his son and daughter had to move in to help. Despite an out-of-court settlement by the radiologist, the plaintiff was awarded $875,000 by a jury.

Continue reading "Medical Negligence Gives Patients Profound Physical and Mental Problems" »

A recent study conducted by Philip Peters Jr., of the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law, found that juries are more likely to side with doctors in medical malpractice cases.

The study shows that juries tend to be skeptical of people and their lawyers who sue their doctors and that most medical malpractice trials result in a verdict for the medical doctors.
Peters concluded that juries treat doctors favorably, "perhaps unfairly so," and are even more likely than fellow physicians to defer to a doctor's opinion and testimony.

Peters’ study found that most medical malpractice suits are decided in favor of the health care provider and that the cases that go to trial tend to be the weakest ones, since those with strong evidence usually settle before trial. In an examination of plaintiffs’ win rates in New Jersey, North Carolina, Florida and Michigan, Peters found that only 27% to 30% of the medical malpractice suits which are filed end in a plaintiff's verdict, which is the lowest success rate of any type of tort litigation.

This does not mean, however, that people who feel they are victims of medical malpractice should do nothing. Despite the less than encouraging percentages Mr. Peters found in his study, the lawyers at the Louthian Law Firm have been successful in utilizing experts to effectively evaluate medical malpractice claims and bring them to successful conclusion on behalf of their clients.

For more information on this subject matter, please contact a South Carolina medical malpractice attorney at Louthian Law Firm for a free consultation.

A Philadelphia, Pennsylvania family has filed suit against a local hospital after their father died following heart surgery.

Two hours after bypass surgery the gentleman suffered a fatal heart attack. His daughter, a doctor, reviewed his chart and saw that he was given an excessive amount of potassium. The patient's daughter believes the excessive potassium her father was given caused his death.

Nurses are taught the 4 “R’s”. Before giving medication they are taught to be sure they have: the Right patient, Right drug, Right dosage and Right method. Following the 4 “R’s” helps to eliminate many medication errors in hospitals.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a medical malpractice accident, contact a South Carolina medical negligence lawyer at Louthian Law Firm for a free consultation.

A Fulton County Georgia jury recently awarded a 19 year old Piedmont College freshman $11.7 million dollars as a result of a spinal surgery which left him paralyzed from the waist down. The surgery which was conducted in 2003 was intended to relieve chronic back pain. The young man’s attorney argued that his paralysis was a result of a medical mistake by his surgeon and a team of doctor’s at North Fulton Medical Center. The surgeon who conducted the surgery and the team of doctors settled before a trial.

One of the neurologists involved in the surgery continued to deny responsibility and insisted on proceeding to trial. The jury, however, agreed with the student and returned a verdict of $11.7 million dollars.

If you or a loved one has been the victim of medical malpractice or medical negligence, please contact a South Carolina medical malpractice lawyer at the Louthian Law Firm for a free consultation.

Studies show that as many as 40,000 patients a year are mistakenly left awake during surgery, but paralyzed and unable to let anyone know. Sherman Sizemore a former coal miner and a Baptist minister killed himself in February 2006, two weeks after undergoing surgery to his abdomen. His two daughters have filed suit claiming that this experience is what caused their father to commit suicide. According to the complaint which was filed, Mr. Sizemore was awake for almost 30 minutes during his surgery. The family of Mr. Sizemore stated that this experience had their father so upset that he took his own life.

Experts say people who have suffered from “anesthesia awareness” often suffer post-traumatic stress syndrome.

If you or a loved one has been the victim of an anesthesia error, please contact a South Carolina medical malpractice attorney at the Louthian Law Firm for a free consultation.