Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

It is worth noting that situations similar to those described in this medical malpractice case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the San Jose area, such as Kaiser Permanente, Regional Medical Center, Good Samaritan Hospital, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, or O’Connor Hospital.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this personal injury lawsuit and its proceedings.)

INJURIES: Kirk now lives in San Jose and claimed the delayed diagnosis and treatment of his glaucoma caused legal blindness in his right eye and loss of 15 percent of vision in his left eye.

Facts:

In early 2009, L.T. Kirk Jr., 68, who served in a U.S. Air Force special unit that maintained fighter jets flown in the Korean War, was one of eight eye patients receiving treatment at the Veterans Administration hospital in Palo Alto, when he was contacted by VA Palo Alto Health Care System and informed that he received improper care that may have caused some vision loss, which could have been prevented.

Kirk filed an Administrative Tort Claim, under the Federal Tort Claims Act, against the United States government, which owns and manages the hospital, for medical malpractice – negligent treatment and failure to diagnose or consult.

Kirk subsequently became legally blind in his right eye and suffered vision loss in his left, as well. He contended that the hospital failed to treat him for his glaucoma for several years, and also contended that there was an internal breakdown at the VA Hospital arising out of the VA’s failure to follow its own policy that all glaucoma patients seen in the optometry department must be referred to the ophthalmology department for care and treatment by medical doctors, and that the optometrists should have also consulted with an ophthalmologist or medical doctor for his care.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

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It is worth noting that situations similar to those described in this medical malpractice case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the area, such as Kaiser Permanente, UC Davis Medical Center, Mercy, Methodist, or Sutter.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this personal injury lawsuit and its proceedings.)

FACTS/CONTENTIONS
According to Plaintiff: Decedent Fernanda Trenton was 78 years old at the time of her admission to defendant Sacramento Hospital on March 1, 2005. Plaintiff’s Alzheimer’s disease led her to wander and have episodes of incontinence. After the death of decedent’s husband, decedent’s daughter, plaintiff Emily Prillmer, concluded that her mother would be safest in an Alzheimer’s wing of a skilled nursing facility. Prillmer arranged for her mother’s admission to Sacramento Hospital on March 1, 2005.

Prillmer claimed that, from March 1, 2005 to September 2, 2005, decedent was fully ambulatory without any assistive devices. She further claimed that, as a result of Sacramento Hospital’s failure to devise and implement an effective plan of care to address Trenton’s fall risk, Trenton suffered five falls at the facility. On September 2, 2005, Trenton fell to the ground and immediately exhibited signs and symptoms of a hip fracture. She never walked again.

Eight days later, Trenton was diagnosed with a hip fracture, and a bedsore was discovered. Although she underwent surgery for the fracture, Trenton died a few weeks later due to an infection from the bedsore.

Prillmer brought an action against Sacramento Hospital and its parent company. Plaintiff Prillmer alleged that defendants recklessly delayed assessing and treating Trenton’s fractured hip and recklessly failed to prevent Trenton’s bedsore. These failures, Prillmer contended, were the consequence of extreme under-staffing at the nursing home and they caused her mother’s death.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

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The following blog entry is written to illustrate an example of a medical malpractice case. Reviewing this kind of lawsuit should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court. It is worth noting that situations similar to those described in this medical malpractice case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the area, such as Kaiser Permanente, UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco General, California Pacific Medical Center, or St. Francis Memorial Hospital.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this personal injury case and its proceedings.)

INJURIES: The baby was born with severe neurological abnormalities, including an absent gag reflex with repeated aspiration, microgastria and severe reflux, partial aplasia of one leg, oral aversion, episodic apnea to the point of loss of consciousness, periodic repeated vomiting spells which required permanent tracheostomy, round-the-clock oxygen therapy and feeding only by gastrostomy or jejunostomy tubes. The infant requires round-the-clock care.

Facts:

In spring 2007, the plaintiff, a 33-year-old woman who planned on having children, presented to an obstetrician. The plaintiff was found to lack immunity to chickenpox, though she was not vaccinated against it. Roughly three months later, she became pregnant. Thirteen weeks into her pregnancy, she was visited by her mother who had active shingles, the same virus as chickenpox. The plaintiff was sent immediately by her internist to a second obstetrician for treatment with anti-chickenpox immune globulin (VZIG). The second obstetrician did not administer the treatment. About three weeks later, the plaintiff broke out in classic chickenpox and recovered fully with antibiotics. She then followed up with a perinatologist to determine if the fetus had contracted congenital chickenpox.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

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It is worth noting that situations similar to those described in this medical malpractice case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the San Jose area, such as Kaiser Permanente, Regional Medical Center, Good Samaritan Hospital, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, or O’Connor Hospital.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this personal injury lawsuit and its proceedings.)

Plaintiff sued defendant for nursing negligence, contending that the nurse did not appropriately assess plaintiff’s fall risk, given that she had a history of a prior fall, rheumatoid arthritis, lower extremity weakness, balance and mobility problems, as well as multiple other underlying health conditions, and that the nurse did not implement the proper fall precautions, which resulted in plaintiff’s injury. Plaintiff contended that the standard of care required the nurse to either give plaintiff a bed pan or stand with plaintiff, next to her, while she used the bedside commode. It was below the standard of care for the nurse to have left plaintiff on the commode by herself.

Defense counsel argued that plaintiff’s fall risk was appropriately assessed and the nurse instituted appropriate fall-risk precautions, which included assistance with transitions and ambulation.

CLAIMED INJURIES

According to Defendant: Left tibia fracture; surgery.

CLAIMED DAMAGES

According to Defendant: Not reported.

SETTLEMENT DISCUSSIONS

According to Defendant: Not reported.

EXPERT TESTIMONY

According to Defendant: Plaintiff’s nursing expert, Elaine Karen, R.N., testified that defendant’s nurses negligently performed the fall-risk assessment of plaintiff and that the standard of care required a nurse to be in the room while plaintiff used the bedside commode, given her history of mobility problems, including balance problems and lower extremity weakness.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

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