Indianapolis Personal Injury Lawyer - Medical Malpractice

Family Suing Organ Donor Group for Malpractice

Chrissie Cole — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:25:00 GMT

An Indiana organ donor group is being sued for medical malpractice by two families that claim their loved-ones died after receiving transplants from a cancer patient.

Anthony Taylor, 45, of South Bend died in 2007, nine months after receiving a liver and kidney transplant. Another man also died shortly after receiving a kidney from the same donor.

The families claim the Indiana organ procurement group failed to properly screen the donated organs, but the organ group says their screenings meet state and federal regulations.

The donor had skin cancer that spread to her liver and kidneys.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

Jury Awards Cancer Patient $8 Million in Medical Malpractice Case

Chrissie Cole — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 22:55:00 GMT

Renee Flora had a growth removed from her big toe in the spring of 2004 by a local podiatrist and all seemed good. Until a year later when the New Carlisle woman received bad news – the then, 33-year-old nurse’s aide and mother of two small children had malignant melanoma.

A St. Joseph Superior Court jury has found podiatrist Dr. W. Douglas Kolmodin liable for medical malpractice, concluding that Renee Flora's odds at beating the cancer were greatly reduced because he failed to have tissue from the excised growth tested for cancer.

Now in stage three of the cancer, she has just a 17 percent chance of living another 12 years, according to national cancer statistics, said her attorney.

The jury awarded the woman and her husband more than $8.1 min damages last week at the end of a five-day trial.

According to court records and testimony, the doctor had placed the lesion in a container and he told the company he would send it for testing.

That, however, was the last day the doctor practiced in that office before his move to another building when the specimen was allegedly lost.

The doctor denies the specimen was lost, but rather, it disintegrated upon removal and there was nothing left to send for testing. However, three podiatrists who reviewed the case for the Indiana Department of Insurance concluded there should have been enough tissue for testing.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

Woman Files Medical Malpractice Suit Against Podiatrist

Chrissie Cole — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 07:02:00 GMT

On July 11, a Beaumont woman filed a medical malpractice lawsuit, in Jefferson County District Court, against the podiatrist who operated on her foot, alleging the doctor failed to warn her of the risk associated with the surgery.

The suit claims the woman now suffers from Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, a condition, she claims is the result of foot surgery that she had more than two years ago by Dr. Christopher Browning, according to court papers.

The suit alleges the doctor is negligent for failing to warn her of the dangers resulting from (his) incompetent treatment.

The suit seeks damages for past and future medical expenses, pain, loss of earnings, impairment, and mental anguish, loss of household services, disfigurement and fear of future disease as well as exemplary damages.

Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome is a condition that includes the following symptoms: pain, tenderness and swelling of an extremity. Trauma and surgery are known to trigger the condition.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

Jury Awards Widow $4.45M in Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

Chrissie Cole — Mon, 19 May 2008 12:51:00 GMT

A Widow and her children were awarded $4.45 million for a medical malpractice lawsuit after a jury found that a St. Catherine’s Hospital emergency room doctor was responsible for her husband’s death, according to court records.

The former Inland Steel security supervisor, 45, died of an abdominal aortic aneurysm twelve hours after being released from St. Catherine’s hospital on December 22, 2001. The family claimed his death could have been prevented had the doctor ordered a CT scan to accurately diagnose his condition. He was misdiagnosed as having a kidney stone.

The Lake Superior County jury found the doctor responsible for malpractice after an hour of deliberating. The verdict followed a five day trial, according to court records. His wife and three daughters were plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

Indiana Jury Awards $3.7M in Botched Birth

Chrissie Cole — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 12:55:39 GMT

A Marion County jury awarded a woman and her daughter $3.7 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit from the girl's botched birth.

The lawsuit claimed that her daughter, now 6, will live with cerebral palsy for the duration of her life due to delays during delivery that deprived her brain of enough oxygen. She was born in October 2001, in St. Vincent Hospital, in Indianapolis.

Indiana caps medical malpractice awards, so the judgment will be reduced to just under $2 million. Most of which will be paid by the Indiana Patient's Compensation Fund.

A case summary issued said: Shelby began showing signs of fetal distress while her mother, who was bleeding, waited for a C-section to be performed. The girl didn't start breathing until 12 minutes after her birth. The mother also developed a life-threatening bleeding disorder.

Three days later, she went back into surgery for removal of a sponge left behind during the C-section. The review panel -- made up of physicians -- did rule in her favor on that claim.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

Indiana Doctors and Hospitals to get Payment Break for Malpractice Fund

Chrissie Cole — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 23:05:09 GMT

Starting next month, Indiana hospitals and doctors will receive a break on the rates they pay out to support a medical malpractice payout fund. It is unlikely that patient bills will decrease due to the reduction.

On March 1st, Patient's Compensation Fund rates will be reduced by 19 percent for doctors and 1 percent for hospitals, according to the State Department of Insurance.

The fund was first established in 1976 to help compensate malpractice victims. Health care providers add to the fund on a voluntary basis, and many of Indiana's doctors participate.

The fund currently holds $150 million. The amount doctors contribute in an annual payment depends on their specialty. Due to the lower rates doctors who specialize in neurosurgery and obstetrics will see their payments decrease from $33,969 to $27,489 in 2008.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

Indiana Department of Insurance Announces Lower Medical Malpractice Rates in 2008

Chrissie Cole — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 00:07:49 GMT

The Indiana Department of Justice (IDOI) recently announced, effective March 1, 2008, the Patient's Compensation Fund (PCF) surcharge rates will be lowered by 19.1 percent for doctors and 1.3 percent for hospitals.

This is the first medical malpractice insurance reduction for hospitals and doctors since the PCF's launch in 1976. The recent reductions are attributed to an increase in efficiencies in the PCF administration and to health care providers over recent years that worked to rebuild the PCF's balance.

IDOI also cited recent rulings from Indiana's courts as a contributing factor for the overall decrease in rates.

The PCF was founded in 1976 to provide compensation to patients severely injured by medical malpractice and is administered by the IDOI. The PCF is funded solely through surcharge payments by Indiana health care providers. Participation is voluntary and open to all persons and entities providing health care in Indiana. PCF members receive excess coverage of $1,000,000 above their underlying responsibility for the first $250,000 in coverage.

For more information on this subject matter, please visit our help center on medical malpractice.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

Opposing Laws may Determine Medical Malpractice Case

Chrissie Cole — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 10:35:25 GMT

Conflicting laws may decide if the estate of an Allen County woman can sue a Fort Wayne nursing home for medical malpractice that resulted in her death. The arguments went before the Indiana Court of Appeals on Monday.

The woman, 68, was living in the Bethlehem Woods Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, in September 2001, when workers at the facility allegedly left her on a bedpan for over six hours.

She developed pressure sores and had to be transported to the hospital the following day, according to court records. She died on November 6, 2001.

In October 2003, her estate filed a wrongful death claim against the nursing home. The case was moved to Wells County, where a trial judge granted summary judgment to the nursing home.

The issue before the appellate court Monday was whether the estate must abide by the medical malpractice statute of limitations, which is two years from the occurrence of the alleged malpractice, or the wrongful death statute of limitations, which is two years from the date of death.

In this case, the estate met the limitation for wrongful death but filed a month late for medical malpractice.

For more information, please visit our section on Medical Malpractice.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

Jury Awards Mother $8M in Medical Malpractice Suit

Chrissie Cole — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 17:12:35 GMT

A jury awarded almost $8 million to a mother and her 5-year-old son, Thursday, in a medical malpractice suit against Central Maine Medical Center and one of its midwives.

The mother claimed her midwife and the hospital should have recommended an emergency cesarean section, in April 2002, when her baby appeared to be in distress. The baby was born with cerebral palsy due to lack of blood and oxygen to his brain.

The verdict is described as one of the largest medical malpractice awards handed down in Androscoggin County Superior Court. The jury reached a decision in two days following a two week trial.

A lawyer for the hospital expressed disappointment at the $7.96 million verdict, saying that a pretrial screening panel found that the hospital and its staff had complied with all guidelines.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to our section on Medical Malpractice Lawsuits.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

Jury Awards Mother $13 Million in Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

Chrissie Cole — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 16:57:10 GMT

A Polk County jury has awarded the mother of a four-year-old boy with cerebral palsy, over $13 million dollars, in a medical malpractice agreement reached yesterday. The mother claims doctors at Broadlawns Medical Center are the blame for her son's condition.

While preparing the woman for a caesarian birth, she says the doctors stopped monitoring her baby's heartbeat. A spinal anesthetic used during the surgery caused her blood pressure to drop, cutting off oxygen to the baby. All the while, the doctor's did not realize there was a problem.

Now, four years later, her son has cerebral palsy and experts believe his condition was caused by damage to the brain that usually occurs during fetal development, birth or infancy.

Following an 11-day trial, the jury ruled in her favor yesterday and awarded her a settlement of $13.5 million.

Blank Children's Hospital was also named in the lawsuit. Nathan was sent there shortly after birth because of the complications. Blank settled its part of the case before it went to trial for an undisclosed amount of money.

An attorney for Broadlawns says, the hospital will appeal the jury's verdict.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Medical Malpractice and Negligent Care.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole