Accident and Injury Lawyer Blog

Nursing Home Negligent in Death, Lawsuit Claims

The Chicago Tribune has a story of a lawsuit involving the death of an 89-year-old nursing home resident. In the nursing home neglect lawsuit, the family of woman alleges that staff members at the Arbor of Itasca nursing home failed to investigate when the patient triggered an alarm as she apparently wandered into a courtyard during freezing weather. Suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, she was later found frozen to death.

Nursing home lawyers tend to shy away from cases where the patient is almost 90 years-old. But this case has jury appeal because the facts are so extreme.

The Register-Herald in Berkeley, West Virginia writes an article about the efforts of pharmacists in West Virginia to add themselves to the list of health care providers under West Virginia law entitled to protection under West Virginia’s medical malpractice cap.

The FDA issued a warning that taking the psoriasis drug Raptiva could result in serious brain infection and even death. Raptiva may cause a serious brain infection called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. Three confirmed long term users of Raptiva have developed progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) after the use of Raptiva.

Raptiva is an injectable drug used by adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Raptiva suppresses T-cells in the mmune system that cause the skin inflammation associated with psoriasis.

Our lawyers are now begining to investigate the facts of potential lawsuits involving Raptiva. If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) after the use of Raptiva. If you believe you or someone you love who was taking Raptiva has PML, contact one lawyers about your potential Raptiva lawsuit at 800-553-6000 or click here for a free consultation.

Nursing home lawyers focus on the abuse and neglect that patients receive in nursing homes. The social good that derivies from this is that nursing homes have to be mindful that abusing patients comes with a cost.

The New York Times has an article off the radar screen of nursing home lawyers that can be just as awful for nursing home patients: abuse and neglect by family members.

An Allegheny County jury in Pennsylvania has ordered the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center to pay $5 million to a woman left brain-damaged after she was given eight times the appropriate amount of sodium she required to correct a chemical imbalance.

Plaintiff was diagnosed with an electrolyte deficiency and low sodium after an emergency room, according to her medical malpractice lawyers. The hospital planned to slowly correct her low sodium but accidently gave her a dose of eight times the amount she should have received.
The sodium overload caused permanent brain damage that has prevented plaintiff from returning to work, impaired her speech and made walking difficult, according to her malpractice attorneys.

You can read the full story on this case here.

The ObTape lawsuits could proceed to trial early next year, according to an order issued by U.S. District Court Judge Clay D. Land, who is the MDL judge in the ObTape lawsuits.

ObTape is a vaginal sling that was surgically implanted in women suffering from stress urinary incontinence, allegedly caused injuries such as erosion, abscesses and infections, leading to loss of continence and multiple surgeries.

Plaintiffs' Mentor ObTape lawyers contend that the Mentor ObTape Vaginal Sling was defectively designed. Why was the Mentor ObTape defective? The problem is that vaginal slings are made with a mesh design which allows the sling to breathe and get nutrients to the body’s tissue. The ObTape Vaginal Sling cannot breathe which caused pressure on the vaginal wall causing tearing, cutting, and sometimes permanent erosion of the vaginal tissues. When ObTape causes erosion of the vagina, complete excision of the exposed mesh is often recommended in order to avoid severe soft tissue infections that may occur for years after surgery.

Continue reading " OB Tape Lawsuits to Proceed " »

Right now, Medtronic lead lawyers are unable to buy a break in this litigation. The MDL court denied plaintiffs' motion to reconsider its summary judgment ruling in quite dismissive language. A sample:

Plaintiffs point to a litany of so-called errors in the Court's January 5, 2009 Order but when distilled to their essence Plaintiffs merely seek to relitigate issues addressed therein. Simply put, Plaintiffs' disappointment with the Order is not a valid basis to move to reconsider.

Ouch. The American Association for Justice's president Les Weisbord has an editorial in the New York Times that provides a solution to all of this:

In early January, the cases of 1,496 people with heart defibrillators attached by defective Medtronic leads were dismissed. The leads have been known to malfunction and send repeated shocks to patients, sometimes for hours. These people may have no legal remedy, while the manufacturer receives complete immunity. While the Obama administration can strengthen the F.D.A., Congress must reverse the Supreme Court’s decision in order to make sure negligent device manufacturers can be held accountable.

This is the best answer, one I'm not sure the MDL judge ruling against Medtronic victims would necessarily oppose. Hopefully, Congress is listening.

http://www.millerandzois.com/Fleet-Phospho-soda-lawyer.htmlOur lawyers are now looking at potential class action cases involving oral sodium phosphate products. The FDA indicated in December, through a MedWatch Safety Alert, that oral sodium phosphates (OSP) bowel cleansing solutions should be available by prescription only.

The MedWatch Safety Alert, with the cumbersome title, "Oral Sodium Phosphate (OSP) Products for Bowel Cleansing: reports of acute phosphate nephropathy, Boxed Warning to be added to labeling,” reported serious kidney injuries were associated with the use of oral sodium phosphate products (OSP) for bowel cleansing prior to not only colonoscopies but other less invasive procedures. The MedWatch also noted something that will be critical in proving these lawsuits: they have found kidney injuries with patients that not only did not have prior kidney injury but also did not have markers that would make them candidates for this particular kidney injury (acute phosphate nephropathy).

Acute phosphate nephropathy, often called acute nephrocalcinosis, is a very serious kidney injury that can require dialysis or a kidney transplant and can lead to acute renal failure and even death.

The FDA is also concerned with all potential kidney injuries and risks associated with the use of OSP products that are available over-the-counter (OTC). The reason the OTC problem is more severe is because the injury appears to be dose responsive.

Continue reading " Lawyers for Oral Sodium Phosphate (OSP) Kidney Injury " »

Interesting car accident case reported in South Carolina Lawyers Weekly. Plaintiff was a passenger in a car driven by his grandmother, and a hit-and-run driver T-boned them at an intersection. It was a small accident case: medical bills totaling $3,230 and lost wages totaling $4,352.

State Farm, standing by its insured as always because, you know, you are in good hands, offered $6,500. At trial, State Farm’s lawyer argued during opening statements that the jury could determine whether what the Plaintiff had already been paid was sufficient. Plaintiff’s accident lawyer objected and the trial judge sustained the objection and later instructed the jury to disregard the setoff argument in its deliberations because any setoff would be handled by the judge.

Continue reading " State Farm: Another Multiple of the Offer Verdict " »