Burn injuries are often painful experiences that require weeks of physical rehabilitation. The mental health effects of burns can be lifelong. According to one researcher, in the United States, about 41% of burn injuries are from flames, 31% from scalding, 3.5% from chemical burns, and 3.6% from electrical burns. Thermal burns can come from severe heat, but they may also come from severe cold, such as frostbite [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7224101/].
A serious burn can be a catastrophic injury that requires extensive medical intervention and skin grafts. Even a less serious burn can impact your quality of life, restricting your movement, causing pain, and preventing you from engaging in life as you once did.
Burn injuries lawyers can make the road to recovery a bit easier by safeguarding your legal rights and working with you to pursue fair compensation.
What Does a Burn Injury Lawyer Do?
Burn damage can come from many different causes. Often the event that led to the burn accident becomes a legal issue. It might be possible to sue if the burns were because of another person’s negligence. Examples of possible negligence include:
Car accidents
Construction accidents
Medical malpractice
Defective products
A burn injuries lawyer uses investigation and evidence-gathering to help determine what happened. Working on behalf of burn injury victims, they assess who might be at fault. Then they can file a lawsuit, insurance claim, or other legal mechanism to seek the compensation you are entitled to receive.
6 Signs You Need To Hire a Burn Injury Lawyer
As a burn injury victim, you need to devote your time and energy to healing. A burn injury lawyer can provide the help and guidance you need, particularly if you encounter roadblocks in getting financial support.
Severe Burn Injuries
If you have severe burn injuries, a burn attorney can provide legal support to access the right medical treatment and to seek coverage of your medical costs. Even if your burns heal, you might experience long-term physical, mental, and emotional side effects from the accident.
First-degree burns affect only the outer layer of skin
Second-degree burns affect deeper skin layers and may require surgery to heal
Third-degree burns go through all layers of skin
Fourth-degree burns go through the skin to the underlying muscles or bone
Burn victims require immediate medical attention, especially if they experience severe burns. It can take many weeks to heal from severe burns, and even if a person does heal physically, there might be noticeable scarring and long-lasting consequences on mental health.
The course of your recovery from severe burns might be unpredictable, even if you are working with excellent doctors. A burn accident attorney can help you retain your legal rights to seek compensation from those who caused your injuries.
Liability Is Being Questioned
Sometimes a person with a burn injury has a conflict with the individual who might be responsible. A person with electrical burns from a defective household appliance, for example, might get resistance from the product manufacturer. In these cases, it’s particularly important to work with a burn injuries attorney. They can make it clear to the company that you are serious about asserting your legal rights, including going to trial if necessary.
Delayed or Long-Term Health Complications
Even the best doctors can underestimate the depth and severity of a burn injury. It might take a few weeks to determine whether a burn has penetrated the deeper layer of skin [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK430795/]. Many people also experience long-term mental health complications of burn injuries, such as [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK430795/]:
Psychological trauma
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Lower body image
Therefore, your medical needs might change over the course of your recovery. A burn victim lawyer’s responsibility is to preserve your legal right to pursue fair compensation. That includes not settling an insurance claim or burn injury lawsuit before knowing the full extent of your physical, emotional, and financial losses.
Insurance Company Disputes
Insurance coverage can provide welcome relief after a serious accident or injury. However, sometimes insurance companies makes it difficult to pursue the compensation you deserve. Some examples of disputes you might have after a burn injury include:
Denial of your claim for medical compensation
Denial of your claim for income replacement or disability
Insurer saying your benefits are “maxed out”
Insurer saying certain treatments are not covered
Insurer asking for additional medical opinions or more documentation
If you experience any roadblocks to obtaining an insurance payout, a burn injury lawyer can step in as your advocate. That might include speaking to the insurer for you or gathering additional documentation about your medical, psychological, and support needs.
Loss of Income and Wages
Rehabilitation and healing take time after a burn injury. You might lose income or wages because of time away from work. A burn injury lawyer can assist with this, whether it is helping you with your insurance claim or including your income loss as part of a burn injury lawsuit.
Emotional Distress, Physical Pain, and Suffering
Serious burns can be considered a catastrophic injury. Although there’s no legal definition of catastrophic injury, it might help to think of it as a life-changing injury. You might be able to live a full and meaningful life after the injury, but you will probably need support to do so.
Financial compensation cannot undo the damage from severe burns. However, compensation for your experience of emotional distress, physical pain, and suffering can help you access the support you need to move forward. If you are living with a catastrophic burn injury, your best chance of getting fair compensation is working with a burn injury attorney.
Consult an Experienced Burn Injury Attorney
A burn injury attorney can answer the questions you have about your case, from typical 2nd degree burn compensation to resources for medical treatment in Pennsylvania. The burn injury attorneys at McEldrew Purtell are dedicated to helping people who have experienced harm. While you heal, we go to work. For a free consultation, contact us today.
Receiving a cancer diagnosis has an undeniable impact. In mere moments, the focus of a person’s life can change from day-to-day responsibilities to facing a potentially devastating illness. The impact can become even greater when a person learns there’s been a cancer misdiagnosis. This can happen in two ways: either doctors fail to diagnose the cancer early or they say a person has cancer when they actually do not.
Both of these are forms of medical misdiagnosis. Unfortunately, both can cause serious physical, emotional, and mental harm. In some cases, doctor misdiagnosis can rise to the level of medical malpractice. A lawyer can explain the full range of legal options available when a doctor has misdiagnosed you and help you decide the best course of action.
Most Frequently Misdiagnosed Cancers
There are not many statistics on how often medical professionals tell people they have cancer when they do not.
There are, however, some high-profile examples of this phenomenon. In May 2023, about 400 people received letters on behalf of a biotech company telling them they had cancer. All of the individuals had taken a cancer detection test made by the company. These were all false positive diagnoses that were the result of a software error.
So how often is cancer misdiagnosed? There is more research on missed diagnoses of cancer than false diagnoses. A 2019 study of malpractice claims data found 46% of diagnostic errors in a primary care setting were missed cancer diagnoses. The most common types of missed cancer diagnoses were:
Lung cancer
Colorectal cancer
Prostate cancer
Breast cancer
It is unfortunately possible for doctors to misdiagnose, or fail to diagnose, many types of cancer including skin cancer, cervical cancer, colon cancer, and others.
Factors to Determine if Misdiagnosis of Cancer is Classified as Malpractice
A missed or false cancer diagnosis can cause great harm to a patient. If a doctor misinterprets or fails to spot the signs of cancer, the cancer can spread and become harder to treat. This might limit treatment options and even shorten life expectancy.
At the same time, if someone has a cancer diagnosis when they are cancer-free, they might undergo unnecessary treatments that have dangerous side effects. They might also take legal and personal steps to make plans for a long treatment regimen that they do not actually need, which affects their financial and mental health.
If you experience harm because of mistakes in the healthcare system, you can file a lawsuit for negligence. One form of negligence is medical malpractice.
So, is misdiagnosis malpractice? There is a general legal test to make a claim for medical malpractice. Misdiagnosis might be considered malpractice if it meets the criteria.
Doctor-Patient Relationship
The first step is establishing that you had a doctor-patient relationship with the physician who missed your diagnosis or gave you the wrong diagnosis. If you had just one appointment with the doctor, that’s usually enough to show you had this legal relationship. You can prove this in a legal case by presenting medical records of your appointment and your medical history.
Standard of Care Breach
The second step is establishing that the doctor did not provide you with the medical care that a reasonable doctor would have given in the same circumstances. This step can be harder to prove. Sometimes cancer is hard to detect, and on occasion tests can indicate cancer even when there is none. Showing your doctor breached the standard of care can require a great deal of evidence gathering, such as expert testimony from someone familiar with the process of diagnosing the particular type of cancer at issue.
Causation
The third step is establishing that it was the medical professional’s misdiagnosis that directly led to the harm you experienced. This can also be hard to prove without the assistance of an experienced medical malpractice attorney. It is not enough that a doctor gave you an incorrect diagnosis or even that you endured treatment or were delayed in getting treatment. Causation is about the diagnosis being the direct cause of the harm you experienced, such as severe illness or side effects from unnecessary treatment.
Damages
The fourth step is establishing that you experienced losses because of the doctor’s malpractice. For example, if you had a lung cancer misdiagnosis, your treatment options might be more limited if the cancer has spread. Perhaps an earlier-stage diagnosis would have meant you could have surgery to remove the cancer, but now your doctor is recommending chemotherapy and radiation because the cancer has advanced.
A medical malpractice lawyer can help you to determine your losses because of your experience. They might include:
Pain and suffering
Psychological anguish
Reduced quality of life
Loss of income or wages
Loss of earning capacity
Medical bills
Palliative and nursing care
This list is not exhaustive. Your lawyer will listen to your story to fully understand how the misdiagnosis has impacted your life.
Should I File a Lawsuit After a Cancer Misdiagnosis?
A lawsuit cannot reverse a cancer misdiagnosis. However, a lawsuit can help you access financial resources that can recover some of what you have lost. It can also send a message to the medical community to take care with diagnoses of serious illnesses, so what happened to you is less likely to happen to someone else.
A lawsuit can take many turns. Although some people settle out of court, it is sometimes in your best interest to take a case to trial. Because of this possibility, it is important to work with experienced and dedicated medical malpractice lawyers who can fight for your interests in negotiations and in a courtroom.
Consult Specialized Medical Malpractice Lawyers
McEldrew Purtell is a team of dedicated lawyers who take on the burdens of your case while you focus on your personal wellness. We make it easy to discover how we can help you by offering free, no-risk consultations. To learn more, contact us today.
When you go to a hospital or put a loved one in a nursing home, you expect that the medical personnel will do their best to improve the health of you or your loved one. The last thing you expect is that you will get infected while receiving care.
The emerging threat in hospitals and nursing homes throughout the country is a fungus called Candida auris (C. auris). This fungus is a type of yeast that spreads throughout the body and colonizes the skin.
C. auris spreads primarily in healthcare settings. One reason for this is that older people and people who are already ill are much more susceptible to this type of infection than younger and healthier people.
Because this fungal skin infection mostly targets the infirm, it presents a serious danger to anyone who is infected. This danger is compounded by the fact that C. auris is increasingly resistant to antibiotics.
This resistance to treatment means that the majority of patients infected by C. auris end up in an intensive care unit, and almost one-third die from it. And even those who survive are likely to spend two weeks or more in intensive care.
Protecting Yourself and Your Loved Ones
The average person has nothing to fear from C. auris. This infection typically is not found outside of hospitals and nursing homes and has almost no way to spread to healthy individuals. However, if you or someone you love is in a medical facility, the danger increases.
All it takes is a single infected person for an entire ward, or even an entire facility, to become infected. And, unfortunately, there is little you can do to protect yourself or your loved one other than avoid unsafe medical facilities.
The main reason this infection spreads is due to poor safety procedures. When nurses don’t switch gloves and wash their hands between patients, for example, the infection can quickly travel from one patient to another.
If you or a loved one is infected due to an outbreak, it is almost guaranteed that there was a breakdown in safety procedures. Even if someone in the same room as you is infected, you shouldn’t get infected unless medical staff are being careless.
Consult with an experienced medical malpractice attorney immediately if you or a loved one falls victim to this type of negligence. Even if the infection isn’t fatal, it will likely result in massive medical bills. A medical malpractice lawyer can help you recover those costs.
Why Is This Fungal Infection Drug Resistant?
Unfortunately, the lethality of C. auris is in part due to modern medicine. It has grown resistant to antibiotics over time, mostly because of the overprescription of these drugs by doctors.
C. auris isn’t the only infection to become resistant, either. An increasing number of viruses and infections have built up a resistance to antibiotics. In many ways, this is a consequence of how effective antibiotics are in treating many ills.
Many, if not most, doctors default to prescribing antibiotics, even when other drugs might be effective. After all, antibiotics are typically the cheapest and most effective option.
Unfortunately, this overprescription has resulted in infections becoming more resilient against antibiotics. This isn’t necessarily a problem if other treatments are also effective, but when antibiotics are the only option, resistance can be fatal for people who are infected.
The CDC understands the danger that is presented by drug-resistant infections. It is currently funding research to combat this problem and find new solutions that modern infections haven’t yet adapted to.
Be Wary of Nursing Homes
The most common place to contract a fungal infection is in a nursing home. Besides being older, residents of nursing homes typically are suffering from at least a few conditions that can increase the likelihood of being infected.
When you are choosing a nursing home, research the safety procedures that staff follow and whether the home has previously had any types of outbreaks in the past few years. You shouldn’t just look for fungal infection outbreaks. Outbreaks of anything, from lice to COVID-19, suggest that the nursing home workers are being careless with safety procedures.
You should be able to get this information by talking to the nursing home administration. But if you suspect they aren’t telling you the truth, try talking to a current resident or a family member of a current resident to find out whether there have been any recent outbreaks.
Fungal Infections Can Make a Short Hospital Stay Fatal
As fungal infections become increasingly common, you need to be appropriately cautious any time you are admitted to a hospital, especially if you have open wounds where infection can spread. The fatality rate of C. auris infections increases to 50% if it enters the bloodstream.
The worst-case scenario for you or your family is one where you or a loved one dies due to medical malpractice. If you have been affected by a C. auris infection in any way, either by being infected or due to the wrongful death of a loved one, consult with an experienced medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible.
When you purchase a Tesla automobile from a dealer, it includes a standard Autopilot system. You have the option to replace that with a Full Self Driving (FSD) feature. Despite what the names suggest, neither feature removes the need for a driver. They are both intended as driver-assist features.
While these systems may help you drive in some circumstances, that assistance appears to come with a cost. According to a recent report by the NHTSA, driver-assist features in Tesla vehicles have been at least partially responsible for at least 700 accidents since 2019.
Comparatively, the next most dangerous driver-assist option (Subaru vehicles) resulted in only 23 accidents during that period.
Is Tesla Autopilot Safe?
The evidence suggests that these features are not safe, especially compared to the driver-assist features of other manufacturers. Why are Tesla Autopilot features involved in so many more accidents than driver-assist features in other vehicles? One possible cause is marketing.
Tesla is actively pushing new owners to add the FSD feature, and that marketing push downplays that it is a driver-assist feature. Even the name suggests that drivers can zone out and let the car drive itself. This marketing has already resulted in Tesla being fined, sued, and criminally investigated over misleading self-driving claims.
Another possibility is that the autopilot software just isn’t well designed. There are at least a few signs that this might be the case. In February 2022, 60,000 Tesla vehicles with FSD features were recalled due to what was described as a software glitch. This defect resulted in Teslas rolling through stop signs.
If other portions of the software are similarly defective, the FSD feature may not be safe enough for use, even while a driver is monitoring road conditions. And it definitely wouldn’t be safe enough for drivers who are sleeping or otherwise not paying attention to the road.
And yet another possible reason for these accidents is that Tesla deactivated radar sensors in all vehicles in 2021. These sensors were supposed to prevent collisions, so it isn’t clear why they were turned off. The company claims it was done to allow better technology to be developed, but that has yet to be implemented.
Regardless of the intention, turning off those sensors decreases the ability of self-driving features to identify hazards. This puts drivers, passengers, and others at risk. This is the type of behavior that may lead to a Tesla Autopilot lawsuit.
How Dangerous Are Tesla Self-Driving Features?
Any car accident is dangerous for passengers in the vehicle. However, accidents caused by Tesla Autopilot features are more dangerous than other accidents.
Roughly one of every 200 accidents in the U.S. results in a fatality. The rate of Tesla Autopilot deaths is close to one in 40. This puts Tesla’s self-driving features on par with motorcycles in terms of fatalities.
While some Tesla vehicles have been recalled, investigations into the danger of these features are not yet complete. For example, the NHTSA is still investigating problems with the software that led to Teslas striking emergency vehicles on the edge of the road. When these investigations are complete, more Teslas may be recalled.
What to Do if You Own a Tesla
Even though Tesla Autopilot is standard in every vehicle, you don’t have to use it. If you are concerned that the feature will cause an accident, turn it off. You aren’t required to use driver-assist features.
However, just because you try to turn a feature off, that doesn’t mean it will cease functioning. One of the downsides with modern vehicles is that you don’t have complete control over the software. If your Tesla Autopilot takes control of your vehicle when you don’t want it to, you should contact an experienced product liability attorney at McEldrew Purtell immediately.
What to Do After a Tesla Autopilot Crash
Even if you don’t own a Tesla, you could be a victim of these Tesla features. If you get into an accident with a Tesla, you should consult with a car accident lawyer as soon as possible. There is a chance that the other driver was using some type of self-driving feature. However, you will need the assistance of a car accident lawyer to gather that information.
If they were using a self-driving feature, that might affect liability in the accident. It may also mean you have the option to file a claim against Tesla as well as the driver of the vehicle. Your product liability attorney will investigate your case and determine your options.
Autopilot Is a Misleading Term
Both “autopilot” and “full self-driving” suggest that the vehicle can drive itself without any supervision from a driver. However, Tesla and the government agencies that regulate these vehicles publicly claim the opposite. These are just driver-assist features and can only be safely used with a licensed driver who is paying attention to the road.
If you own a Tesla, use these features safely to avoid being liable for an accident. And if you see someone driving a Tesla who appears to be ignoring the road and relying on these features, give them plenty of leeway and alert the authorities when it is safe to do so. The last thing you want is to get into a Tesla Autopilot crash because of a driver-assist feature.
If you or someone you know was injured or killed as a result of using Tesla’s Autopilot system, contact us to discuss your legal options. You may be entitled to financial compensation.
On June 8, 2023, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a warning about the Momaid infant lounger. According to that warning, the product does not meet critical US safety standards for infant sleep products.
Danger Presented by the Momaid Baby Lounger
This infant lounger presents multiple dangers to any baby placed inside it because it violates federal safety standards.
The first problem is that infant lounger pillows are required to have minimum side heights to prevent children from rolling out of them and falling onto the floor or another surface. The Momaid product does not meet these requirements.
Additionally, this product does not have a stand, which is also required by federal standards. The lack of a stand means that infants sleeping in loungers might roll over and suffocate.
Finally, the Momaid baby lounger lacks labels that give consumers information about the product and manufacturer, and it lacks instructions for safe use. Both of these are required for all products sold in the US.
The result of these deficiencies is that babies using this product are at serious risk of injury or death.
Has the Product Been Recalled?
Typically, when a product is a danger to the people who use it, the manufacturer issues a recall for the product. This both protects the people who currently own the product and minimizes any liability the company has if people continue to use the product and get injured.
However, in this case, Zhejiang Juster Trading, LLC, the seller of the product, has refused to issue a baby lounger recall. The company is not cooperating with the CPSC in any way or offering any type of warning or assistance to customers.
This means that many of the previous customers are unaware of the danger presented by the product. It is likely that many parents are still using the Momaid infant lounger with no clue that the product is hazardous.
However, while the product hasn’t been recalled, few, if any, US companies are still selling the product. This means that if you don’t already own a Momaid baby lounger, there is little danger that you will accidentally purchase one.
What to Do if Your Child Has Been Hurt
If your child was injured while using a Momaid baby lounger, you may be eligible for compensation. The first thing you should do is ensure your child gets proper medical attention as quickly as possible.
Medical Attention
Both falling injuries and suffocation can result in lifelong harm to an infant.
When a child falls while very young, they can cause damage to developing bones or soft tissue. This damage can prevent those body parts from developing properly, leading to lifelong disability.
Similarly, if a child hits their head due to a fall, the injury can result in brain damage. If the wrong part of the brain is injured, that brain damage could hinder the development of motor skills, language, or other important functions. Even a seemingly minor head injury could permanently affect a child’s development.
Suffocation is similar. When a child suffocates, oxygen flow to their brain slows or stops. Even just a minute or two of oxygen deprivation can cause brain damage, which results in roughly the same effects as a blow to the head.
Legal Help
Once a doctor has evaluated and treated your child, you should consult with a product liability attorney. Experienced product liability lawyers from McEldrew Purtell will determine the value of any harm your child suffered.
Many parents underestimate this harm because they don’t understand the types of compensation they can receive. In a product liability lawsuit, your attorney can potentially get you compensation for:
All medical bills
Future assistance services or therapy your child might need
Lost future wages due to disability
Medical equipment your child requires
Pain and suffering due to the injury
Loss of companionship that results from the disability
Experienced attorneys can accurately determine the value of costs years or even decades after the injury. This means that your lawsuit could potentially net your child millions of dollars, depending on how badly they were injured.
What You Should Do if You Own a Momaid Infant Lounger
First, you should immediately stop using it. The numerous safety violations make it unsafe for use, even with modifications.
If your child has already been injured due to poor product design, you can speak to a lawyer about getting compensation through a lawsuit. But if you continue to use the product after learning about the danger it presents, the company is no longer liable for any harm that befalls your child. Instead, you could be liable for harming your infant.
Unfortunately, you will probably not be able to get your money back for the defective product you purchased. The company is located overseas and is not cooperating with the CPSC, so there are few options to recover the cost of the product or get a safe replacement.
It is better to accept that loss and move on than sell the product to someone else and put another child at risk of injury, an outcome for which you would be responsible. The appropriate action to take is to destroy the baby lounger so that no one else ever uses it.
If your child or loved one was injured as a result of using a Mormaid Infant Lounger, contact McEdlrew Purtell to discuss your legal options. Initial consultations are always free.
Exhausted parents and caregivers are constantly on the lookout for any device or product that can help them to care for their newborns. While some popular infant loungers include warnings against allowing newborns to rest on the products without supervision, unfortunately, not all parents are aware of these warnings or the reasons behind them.
Tragically, the dangers of unsupervised use of infant lounger products have led to numerous newborn deaths. For example, over eight reports of infant deaths have been linked to The Boppy Company of Golden, Colorado, leading to over 3.3 million units recalled by the business.
The eight deaths were reportedly caused by suffocation after infants were placed without supervision on their backs, sides, or stomachs on the loungers. Later, the infants were found on their sides or stomachs, suffocated.
This isn’t the first time improperly designed infant pillows have led to fatalities. Retail giants ended all sales of reclined infant sleepers after a Consumer Product and Safety Commission (CPSC) study linked over 73 infant deaths to the use of infant sleeper recliners. Yet some parents are ignorant of the suffocation hazard these loungers pose, purchasing them online through platforms like Facebook and continuing to use them.
Although there has been a Boppy lounger recall, you may still be entitled to compensation if your child was injured or suffocated because of an infant lounger. If you have questions about your legal rights, turn to McEldrew Purtell for a free consultation to explore your next steps.
Which Products Were Affected by the Recall?
On September 23, 2021, Boppy and the CPSC announced a recall of all of the company’s infant loungers. Three types of Boppy infant pillows are affected by the recall. These pillows were sold across multiple outlets online and within stores, including Walmart, Pottery Barn, Target, and Amazon.
Products affected by the Boppy newborn lounger recall include:
Boppy Original Newborn Loungers
Boppy Preferred Newborn Loungers
Pottery Barn Kids Boppy Newborn Loungers
If you or a family member suffered the death of an infant after using any of these products, don’t hesitate to contact our attorneys today at 866-690-2848.
The Boppy recall extends to all Boppy Newborn Loungers sold between January 2004 and September 2021. The loungers measured approximately 22 inches wide by 23 inches long by 7 inches high. They were sold for $30 to $44.
Comprehending the effect of a wide-scale baby lounger recall can be difficult. You might have trouble accepting the reality that a product you purchased for your child’s comfort posed a significant hazard to your newborn. McEldrew Purtell will work with you to ascertain whether your lounger product was affected by the recall, and if so, what options might be available to you to obtain justice.
What Is Causing Boppy Infant Loungers to Suffocate Infants?
Suffocation from baby loungers is not always obvious, even after an infant has passed away. When a newborn is believed to have passed away while sleeping, medical professionals and investigators may not suspect that a defective product like a lounger was the culprit. Instead, the newborn’s passing may be mistakenly attributed to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
It may take a more intensive examination of all of the facts and circumstances to discover the true cause of an infant’s death.
Boppy loungers and other infant loungers present a risk of death to babies in one of two ways: suffocation and positional asphyxia.
Babies placed in a Boppy lounger or another infant lounger can suffocate when they roll onto their sides or stomachs, causing their mouths and noses to become covered by the lounger’s fabric material. This prevents the infant from breathing, often leading to suffocation and death.
In some cases, infants have rolled out of their loungers and onto another plush surface, such as a comforter or adult-sized pillow. These items and the materials from which they are made can also lead to suffocation.
Positional asphyxia refers to a situation in which the position of a baby’s head or body interferes with their ability to breathe normally. As infants have not yet developed enough strength to turn themselves over or lift their heads, it is unfortunately all too common for defective products to put a newborn into a position that obstructs their breathing.
The positional asphyxia Boppy lounger problem is especially troubling because children can kick or move themselves into a dangerous position with little warning. For instance, a child may be awake when they are initially placed onto a baby lounger by their parents. Soon after, the child may begin to nod off and slump forward. This dropping of the head and compression of the chest can make it difficult for the child to breathe, leading to asphyxia.
How Do I Know Whether I Have a Boppy Brand Infant Lounger?
Are Boppy pillows safe? Mounting evidence seems to suggest that infant loungers are not safe for newborns. Boppy claims that it had placed warning labels on its infant loungers that instruct parents not to use the lounger as a sleeping place and to always supervise children while the pillow is in use. However, parents may fail to see the warning. Even with supervision, suffocation can happen in a matter of minutes.
Due to the number of Boppy lounger deaths, The Boppy Company, in conjunction with the CPSC, issued a recall on newborn loungers made by the company. Still, it’s not often that parents know the brand of every pillow they buy for their children. With this in mind, make sure to check the UPC/barcode of the tag on your pillow or lounger in order to determine whether you are using a recalled product.
Where Were Boppy Infant Loungers Sold?
The Boppy recall affected over three million products that were sold nationwide, not only at boutique newborn stores but also across major chains such as Target, Pottery Barn, Walmart, and online at Amazon.com. These products were available for sale between January 2004 and September 2021.
At the time of the infant lounger recall, the company ordered the Boppy lounger to be discontinued. This directive means that The Boppy Company is no longer manufacturing or delivering new loungers to any retailer for sale. This does not mean that these products cannot be purchased, though.
A recent NBC news report detailed the ways that some of these recalled items continue to be sold secondhand on platforms like Facebook Marketplace. Smaller businesses that accept and resell donated items may also inadvertently sell a recalled Boppy baby lounger. Thus, despite the recall, these dangerous products can still be found in use and for sale.
Have Other Infant Loungers Been Subject to a Recall?
Boppy is not the only company that has manufactured or distributed infant loungers. Nor is the infant lounger the only product Boppy makes. Numerous other companies manufacture infant loungers that are similar in design and shape to the infant lounger created by Boppy.
However, whereas Boppy has cooperated with the CPSC’s efforts to recall its infant loungers, not all of these other manufacturers have taken a similar approach. At least one other company, Leachco, was asked by the CPSC to recall its infant lounger, the Podster, after it was linked to three infant deaths, according to the CPSC.
The three deaths included an infant who was left in the Podster unsupervised in a crib and another who was resting in a Podster positioned between the child’s parents. The third child was allegedly left in their Podster unattended. Following these incidents, the CPSC reached out to Leacho and asked that the company recall its Podster lounger for the risks it presented.
Rather than cooperating with a recall, Leacho pushed back and insisted that its Podster lounger was safe when used correctly. The company claimed that it provides parents with adequate warnings about the dangers of allowing infants to use the Podster to sleep or leaving infants unattended in the Podster.
The CPSC has filed suit against Leachco, and Leachco has filed a countersuit against the CPSC.
Loungers from Leachco and other companies can still be purchased online and from major retailers.
In addition to its infant lounger, Boppy also manufactures and sells a nursing pillow. This product is horseshoe-shaped but can contribute to some of the same dangers that are present in the Boppy Infant Lounger.
Like infant loungers, parents are warned not to allow their infants to use the pillows unattended or for sleeping. Currently, the Boppy infant lounger recall does not affect these nursing pillows, which can still be purchased.
If You Have a Boppy Infant Lounger, What Should You Do?
If you have a Boppy pillow that is subject to the recall on newborn loungers, you should stop using the product immediately. If your child has not been hurt, you may be eligible to receive a refund. The Boppy lounger refund amount you can receive may depend on the amount you paid for the lounger, as evidenced by a receipt.
To access the Boppy newborn lounger recall refund, you will need to:
Provide Boppy with the UPC or item number and date code found on the tag on your lounger
Submit a copy of your receipt, if one is available
Take a photograph showing that you have destroyed the lounger by cutting it in half and thereby rendering it unusable
You can discard the lounger once you have submitted the requested information. You may still be entitled to a partial, prorated refund even if you do not have all of the items requested. For example, you may still be able to recoup some amount of money as a refund, even if you do not have the receipt for your lounger.
If your newborn was injured or killed because of a Boppy infant lounger, a refund of the purchase price of the lounger is hardly adequate compensation. This amount would not address the emotional turmoil and other costs you likely experienced during your ordeal. Instead, you should speak with an experienced attorney at McEldrew Purtell about filing a lawsuit against Boppy for its defective product.
Manufacturers like Boppy owe a legal duty to consumers. This duty requires these manufacturers to produce and sell products that are reasonably safe so as not to unnecessarily injure or kill consumers. Warning labels do not suffice to entirely relieve a manufacturer of this obligation.
To prevail in a lawsuit, evidence would need to show that:
You purchased a defective Boppy infant lounger, either from a retailer, online, or secondhand
You used the lounger for your newborn child
Your infant suffered an injury or was killed because of the lounger
You sustained an economic or emotional loss as a result of what happened to your child
If your suit is successful, you could recover monetary damages to address any medical bills or ongoing medical care your child will need. You may also receive financial compensation for any emotional distress you experienced. Lastly, a court may find that Boppy’s design and marketing of a defective product were done recklessly or intentionally and order punitive damages as a result.
Potential claims about Boppy loungers are currently being investigated with an eye toward bringing legal action against The Boppy Company. At present, there is no class action or mass tort suit against the manufacturer.
Boppy’s liability will depend on whether its loungers are found to be unreasonably dangerous, especially if they could have been designed in a safer way at a reasonable cost.
If the defenses raised by companies like Leachco are any indication of what might happen with Boppy lawsuits, the manufacturer may try to escape liability by claiming that their product is safe for the purpose for which it is designed.
Boppy may argue that its lounger was never designed for sleeping or unattended use. If used in accordance with its instructions and warnings, they might argue that the lounger is perfectly safe.
It is too early to tell what arguments Boppy may raise. But having an attorney working on your case means that you can mount an effective response to these or other defenses. McEldrew Purtell is prepared to address efforts by Boppy to evade responsibility for its dangerous lounger product.
How Long Do You Have to File a Lawsuit Against Boppy?
If you are interested in pursuing legal action against Boppy, it is crucial you speak with McEldrew Purtell as soon as possible. The law imposes a deadline by which you must bring a defective product lawsuit against Boppy, and once this deadline passes, you might not be able to receive compensation for the harm caused by the product.
In Pennsylvania, this deadline, known as the statute of limitations, is only two years from the date of the injury. This generally means that if it has been more than two years since your child was injured or died as a result of using a Boppy lounger, you may have difficulty obtaining the compensation you deserve.
Do not assume that you are unable to file a suit just because it has been more than two years since your child’s incident. There are exceptions to the statute of limitations that may apply, and you owe it to yourself and your family to allow your situation to be examined by McEldrew Purtell’s team of experienced lawyers.
Contact McEldrew Purtell if You Suspect Your Child Was Affected by a Defective Infant Pillow
Our team consistently wins cases for victims who have been injured or are responsible for loved ones that have been harmed by dangerous products. We do not charge any fees unless you win your case. Speaking to our award-winning attorneys to learn about your legal situation will never cost you a dime. McEldrew Purtell has won multi-million dollar settlements on behalf of birth and newborn injury victims. Let us bring that same expertise to your case and help you win the compensation your family deserves.
If you or a loved one have had a child injured or killed from suffocation or positional asphyxia caused by a Boppy infant lounger, don’t hesitate to contact us immediately. We are available 24/7 to hear about your case.
Wrongful arrests and convictions can happen anywhere. Recently, news broke about hundreds of convictions in New York City that may have been obtained through corrupt practices by the NYPD.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office reviewed over 1,100 cases that involved 22 NYPD officers who were convicted of official corruption. Of those cases, 316 were vacated due to evidence that the corrupt officers violated the constitutional or civil rights of those arrested and convicted.
Brooklyn’s district attorney vacated another 378 criminal convictions for the same practices committed by different NYPD officers.
What Happened in New York?
The situation that unfolded in New York was very unusual. Between 1996 and 2017, 35 NYPD officers, 22 in Manhattan and 13 in Brooklyn, made thousands of arrests. These officers were later found to have engaged in illegal and corrupt practices.
The police officers were convicted of official corruption in view of allegations they violated New York laws while investigating, arresting, and testifying against suspects. Some violations they committed included:
Planting evidence
Accepting bribes
Coercing suspects into performing sex acts
Lying under oath and giving false testimony
Conducting illegal searches
Paying off informants
Most of these officers were sentenced to at least some jail time. A few received probation. All of them were fired from the NYPD.
Why Were Some Convictions Vacated?
Federal and New York state laws prohibit government officials from violating the civil rights of any person, including those accused of crimes. Civil rights include the rights provided by the U.S. and New York constitutions.
These laws provide substantive protections for criminal suspects and defendants, such as:
Prohibitions against unreasonable searches and seizures
Protections against illegal arrests
Preservation of due process in criminal proceedings
When officials violate these protections, the suspect’s arrest and conviction are tainted. The prosecutor’s office can vacate the conviction even if the suspect committed the crime. The theory is that the state, with all of its power and resources, must always follow the rules when investigating, arresting, and convicting the accused.
The prosecutor’s office can take this action on its own. A wrongful conviction attorney can also request a review from the prosecutor’s office. In theory, prosecutors have an ethical duty to investigate reasonable allegations made by lawyers for wrongfully accused people who may have been convicted outside the bounds of the law.
Prosecutors require solid evidence of a wrongful conviction before taking action. They are often reluctant to revisit old cases because they feel criminal defendants will perpetually relitigate their cases, looking for a way out.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office has a Post-Conviction Justice Unit specifically tasked with reviewing questionable cases. After sending the 22 corrupt NYPD officers to jail, the unit reviewed 1,100 of their cases without prompting from wrongful incarceration attorneys.
This unit has had its hands full reviewing convictions secured by dirty cops. Just eight months earlier, the same unit vacated 188 convictions in cases tainted by eight corrupt NYPD officers. This means the Manhattan DA’s office vacated over 500 convictions in less than a year due to police corruption.
Alternatives to Prosecutorial Review
After the Manhattan DA reviewed 1,100 convictions, it vacated 316 of them. But more than 780 convictions were allowed to stand. You might wonder if lawyers for wrongful convictions have any recourse after prosecutors decide not to vacate an improperly conducted case. Fortunately, a wrongfully accused client and their attorney have two additional options to pursue justice.
Habeas Corpus Petition
The U.S. Constitution gives prisoners the right to file habeas corpus petitions. The literal translation of “habeas corpus” is “have the body.” It refers to a judge’s power to bring an incarcerated person before them to determine whether they have been wrongfully detained.
People who were convicted and incarcerated due to the actions of the corrupt NYPD officers could file a habeas corpus petition. This petition would lay out the reasons the court should intervene.
Habeas corpus petitions were specifically designed to raise legal and technical issues regarding the prisoner’s incarceration rather than issues of guilt or innocence. As a result, these petitions provide the perfect vehicle for a wrongful conviction lawyer to raise corruption issues.
The drawbacks to a habeas corpus petition include:
You must be in custody or on supervised release when you file the petition
You must have exhausted all your appeals
The petition must raise new issues not already appealed
Most of the cases vacated by the Manhattan DA’s office were misdemeanors that only resulted in fines. Only 57 of the 316 cases resulted in the incarceration of the wrongfully convicted person. This means many of the cases allowed to stand involved serious charges that brought jail or prison sentences.
Since the cases date between 1996 to 2017, many are old enough that the wrongfully incarcerated individual has exhausted their appeals. And because some of the allegations against the NYPD officers came to light only within the past few years, a petition can probably include new issues not previously litigated by the person’s wrongfully accused lawyer.
Clemency Application
New York’s governor has the authority to grant clemency to convicted individuals. The governor’s office considers pardons to be extraordinary remedies that are issued only in special circumstances. But in the case of NYPD corruption, the governor’s office might consider a pardon application.
A pardon means you have all legal disabilities connected with your conviction removed. The pardon does not remove your conviction from your criminal history. It will still show up on a background check. But your record will show that you received a pardon.
The governor’s office will consider a pardon only when the convicted person has satisfied all the terms of their sentence, including:
Paying all fines
Serving all required jail or prison time
Completing all community service, probation, and parole
The petitioner must also address how much time has passed since the conviction, with more time working in the petitioner’s favor. The petition must explain the need for the pardon. And petitioners are more likely to receive a pardon if they show they have not had any legal trouble since the wrongful conviction.
Pardons are not necessarily a perfect fit for wrongful convictions. But if your case was not vacated by the DA’s office and you are no longer in custody, a pardon might provide some relief from your conviction. Specifically, a pardon can reverse the impact of a conviction on:
Lease applications
Job or professional licensing requirements
Gun ownership rights
Although individuals can prepare a pardon petition without legal representation, you should consider speaking to a lawyer before filing to make sure you have chosen the right option for your case.
Lessons to Draw from the NYPD Cases
The NYPD cases provide mixed lessons. On the one hand, it is shocking that over 800 people in two boroughs were wrongfully convicted due to police corruption. Despite their protests of innocence, prosecutors, judges, and jurors were deceived by planted evidence, false testimony, and illegal searches.
On the other hand, the Manhattan and Brooklyn district attorneys took fair and just action by vacating wrongful convictions tainted by the actions of corrupt officers. For those who did not have their convictions vacated, there is still hope that prosecutors will take action as additional information comes to light.
Finally, these cases show that people with wrongful convictions should remain hopeful that they can overcome their convictions. Prosecutors, judges, and governors have the authority to restore justice in unjust cases.
Contact our Wrongful Conviction Attorneys Today
If you believe you or someone you know was wrongfully convicted as part of this event or others, you should speak to a wrongful conviction attorney about your legal rights.
Contact our office for a free consultation to discuss your legal options – our expert team is here to help you get the justice you deserve.
Many children born in the United States will suffer from a birth injury, which may impact their health and well-being. Yet, many of these injuries are preventable. If your child has suffered a birth injury, you may have the right to file a birth injury lawsuit and recover compensation.
What Is a Birth Injury Lawsuit?
A birth injury lawsuit is legal action the family of an infant injured during labor or delivery can take against the doctor, nurse, or other medical professionals responsible for the birth injury to receive compensation. Proving birth injury malpractice is essential to winning birth injury claims.
Types of Birth Injuries That Can Lead to a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
There are different types of birth injuries; some may heal with or without treatment, while others are permanent and cause lifelong disability in the child. Here are some of the most common birth injuries:
Brachial Plexus Injury
The brachial plexus is a group of nerves located between the neck and shoulder. They connect the spine to the arm and hand, controlling their movements. A brachial plexus injury occurs when these nerves are excessively stretched or torn during delivery, which can happen if the baby’s shoulder gets stuck in the mother’s pubic bone during delivery (known as shoulder dystocia).
This injury can cause neurapraxia where the nerves are stretched but do not tear. However, more severe cases of this injury can cause Erb’s palsy, Horner’s syndrome, or Klumpke’s palsy. These are caused by an avulsion of the nerves — when the nerves are pulled away from the cervical spine.
Some cases of brachial plexus may resolve by themselves or require therapy or surgery to heal. However, others may cause permanent disability.
Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE)
This is brain damage caused by a lack of oxygen in the child’s brain during labor, delivery, or shortly after birth. The severity of the damage depends on how long the brain is without an adequate supply of oxygen. Some children may not have any long-term effects from HIE. However, in some cases, it can cause cognitive impairment, developmental delay, cerebral palsy, or epilepsy.
Periventricular Leukomalacia (PVL)
PVL occurs when there’s an injury to the white matter around the brain’s fluid-filled ventricles. This matter helps transmit information between different parts of the brain and spinal cord.
Most cases of PVL occur in premature babies. Babies with PVL may suffer major nervous system problems and have learning difficulties.
Facial Nerve Injury
A facial nerve injury can occur during delivery if there’s pressure on the infant’s facial nerves (like against the mother’s pelvis), resulting in facial paralysis. This causes the loss of voluntary movement in the infant’s face.
The use of forceps during delivery can also lead to facial paralysis. Some cases may heal on their own while others may require surgery to correct.
Intracranial Hemorrhage
Intracranial hemorrhage refers to bleeding that occurs within the brain or cranium. This can happen if blood vessels rupture or another trauma occurs during delivery. Mild hemorrhages may resolve on their own, whereas severe cases may necessitate medical treatment or have long-term consequences, such as cerebral palsy, brain injury, and other developmental issues.
What To Expect from a Birth Injury Lawsuit
If you suspect that your child suffered some birth injuries, then consider filing a birth injury lawsuit. Here’s the potential process of your case with legal help:
Initial Consultation With a Birth Injury Attorney
Consult a birth injury attorney to better understand your case and to determine if there’s a valid birth injury claim worth pursuing. A birth injury lawyer has the experience and skill to help you decide your next course of action.
Investigation and Gathering Evidence from Medical Records and Expert Testimony
If the birth injury attorney determines that your case likely involves birth injury malpractice, the next step is to conduct a comprehensive investigation and collect sufficient evidence to establish your case.
This stage involves the following:
Obtaining and reviewing medical records on the pregnancy, prenatal care, and delivery
Demanding medical records on any treatment the infant received
Consulting with expert witnesses
Interviewing witnesses and collecting witness statements
Filing the Birth Injury Lawsuit
The next step involves filing a birth injury lawsuit. Note, however, that you do not have an indefinite amount of time to file your case, as the statute of limitations dictates when you must do so or risk losing your right to do so. Consult a lawyer immediately to ensure you file your case within time and comply with the legal requirements and documentation involved.
Pre-Trial Proceedings and Discovery
Discovery allows the attorney to find more information supporting the birth injury claim from the other party. During this stage, the parties may take depositions and request documents. The statements are taken under oath and considered evidence.
Trial or Birth Injury Lawsuit Settlements
Usually, both parties will attempt to negotiate. If the negotiation is successful, the parties will reach a birth injury settlement. Otherwise, the case will proceed to trial.
Many medical malpractice claims do not proceed to trial. However, if it does, the parties will present their case and arguments before a judge and jury, who will then render a verdict.
Compensation for Medical Expenses, Rehabilitation, and Physical Therapy
The plaintiffs in successful childbirth injury lawsuits will recover damages for the child’s injury or wrongful death. The birth injury compensation may cover the cost of the following expenses:
Adaptive equipment
Assistive devices
Home nurses or other special care
Lost wages if you stopped working to provide full-time care
Occupational and physical therapy
Mobility aids
Medications
Special education
Speech therapy
Surgeries
Pain and suffering
Medical bills
Other future medical care
Consult a Medical Malpractice Attorney and Claim Your Legal Rights
Navigating a birth injury lawsuit can be challenging, but a medical malpractice attorney can help. The experienced birth injury lawyers at McEldrew Purtell can help you fight for your baby’s right to justice and recover adequate compensation for their injuries. Call or email us today to discover how we can help.
Between May 10th and May 18th of 2023, approximately 400 people received letters that told them they had been diagnosed with cancer. As you might expect, this was a terrifying moment for the recipient of these letters and sent many into a panic. And the worst part of this situation is that it never should have happened.
These letters were sent by the telemedicine vendor PWN Health on behalf of the biotech company Grail. Each of the people who received these letters had taken the Galleri cancer detection test produced by Grail. And all of them were cancer free.
But due to a software configuration error at PWN, the recipients of these letters received a false positive diagnosis.
Who Is Responsible for This Cancer Misdiagnosis?
PWN Health has taken full responsibility for the error. The company claims that the software was misconfigured when those letters were sent out and that the error has since been resolved. Also, the company claims it informed the customers who received a false diagnosis about the error.
Despite this, several life insurance companies have paused their business relationships with Grail.
Why Did Life Insurance Companies Have a Business Relationship with Grail?
Typically, life insurance companies charge more for insurance if someone is more likely to die relatively soon. If, for example, your parents both died of cancer in their early 60s, your insurance is going to be more expensive than if they both lived to almost 100.
However, if the insurance company has evidence that the risk of you dying is lower, they will decrease your insurance premiums. This is beneficial to you because it saves you money and to the insurance company because those savings make you more likely to purchase their insurance.
The Grail cancer detection test is a sound product that can identify up to 50 different types of cancer. And the roughly $1,000 cost is relatively cheap compared to the cost of decades of insurance.
Before this recent problem, these facts made it beneficial for life insurance companies to recommend the test to customers and use the results to provide discounts when the results were good.
What Are the Possible Consequences of a Cancer Misdiagnosis?
Luckily, PWN Health identified the problem and acted quickly, minimizing the consequences of this grievous error. But even quick action may not have prevented all the negative effects of a cancer diagnosis.
Unfortunately, misdiagnosing cancer costs billions of dollars in unnecessary medical bills every year. And the cost to an individual can be devastating, especially if it results in unnecessary treatment. Cancer treatments are often expensive, painful, and potentially lethal in some circumstances.
Even in the best circumstances, like this one, someone who receives a false diagnosis may suffer significant mental and emotional distress. That type of distress can interfere with daily activities like going to work or doing chores. Even if the mistake is corrected in a little over a week, it could cost someone hundreds or thousands of dollars to recover.
And in the worst circumstances, a cancer misdiagnosis can result in death. Chemotherapy is a dangerous form of treatment that injects poisons into the body of a patient. It can be necessary when someone has cancer. But that same poison can kill a healthy person with no benefit.
Most of the time, though, misdiagnosis is extremely costly. Cancer treatments are often very expensive. Even cheap treatment will probably cost tens of thousands of dollars. And the most expensive treatment could cost millions.
Can You Sue for Misdiagnosis of Cancer?
If you have spent tens of thousands of dollars or more on unnecessary cancer treatment, you most likely want your money back. The main way to get compensation for the money you shouldn’t have spent is by filing a cancer misdiagnosis lawsuit.
When you have been incorrectly diagnosed with cancer, that is a form of medical malpractice. As soon as you determine that you were incorrectly diagnosed, you should consult with a medical malpractice attorney. A medical malpractice lawyer can determine what damage you suffered from the false diagnosis.
If you have a claim for significant damages, your cancer misdiagnosis attorney can either negotiate a settlement or file a lawsuit on your behalf. Either option can get you compensation for:
Costs for unnecessary treatment
Mental and emotional suffering from the false diagnosis
Lost wages resulting from the false diagnosis
Costs from end-of-life or legal decisions you might have made after the diagnosis
The increased cost of life and health insurance due to an incorrect diagnosis
Additionally, if a loved one has died due to a misdiagnosis, you can file a wrongful death lawsuit to get compensation for your loss. Consult with a cancer misdiagnosis lawyer from McEldrew Purtell to learn more about your legal options.
Protect Yourself from Cancer Misdiagnosis
If you get a diagnosis of cancer, before you do anything you might regret, consult with your doctor and consider getting a second opinion. While a medical malpractice attorney can help you recover money if a misdiagnosis harms you or your family, it is always best to avoid spending that money in the first place.
False positives cost billions in unnecessary treatment every year. Avoid being part of that statistic by speaking to the right doctors and lawyers after getting a positive diagnosis.
If you or someone you know was misdiagnosed as a result of this event or a different situation, contact us to discuss your legal options. Initial consultations are always free.
Surgeons are responsible for your health and your life. They should be professional and medically responsible anytime they work on your body. Sadly, many surgeons are negligent and cause extremely serious injuries. Surgical errors often violate the standard of care and constitute medical malpractice. Many of these are preventable mistakes if the surgeon followed a surgical safety checklist or their training.
At McEldrew Purtell, our experienced medical malpractice lawyers know what to do if a surgeon makes a mistake. We know that the healthcare system can be difficult to navigate and that adverse events from surgeries could negatively affect your life. We perform a systematic review of your case and help you determine what compensation is available for you.
9 Surgical Errors in the Operating Room To Be Aware Of
Countless medical mistakes could occur in an operating room, but these nine preventable mistakes are some of the most common.
1. Administering the Wrong Medication or Incorrect Dosage
One of the most common surgical errors is giving a patient the wrong type or amount of medication. Drugs such as pain medicine, anesthesia, and more are essential for surgery and post-surgical recovery. When doctors or nurses give the wrong medication or wrong dosage, the results can be catastrophic.
Surgical teams should carefully review a patient’s chart to determine what medication they should receive, at what dose, and at what time. Failure to follow basic instructions is one of the most preventable mistakes that occur in the operating room.
2. Wrong-Site Surgery
Wrong-site surgeries occur when the doctor performs the procedure on the wrong part of the body. For example, if a patient needs surgery on their left leg, and the surgeon performs the surgery on the right leg instead, this is a wrong-site surgery. This happens in many common surgical procedures and can do irreparable damage to the area in which the surgeon mistakenly operated.
This mistake is often due to a lack of review and procedures to prevent this error. Responsible hospitals follow a surgical safety checklist that helps to prevent wrong-site surgeries.
3. Performing the Wrong Procedure on the Patient or a Procedure on the Wrong Patient
At times, surgeons perform the wrong procedure on the patient in front of them. This often results from human error or a complete disregard for patient safety. Nurses, staff, and surgeons should double-check surgical procedures to ensure the right surgery occurs on the patient.
Another shocking but common mistake is to perform a procedure on the wrong patient. Surgical patients deserve high-quality medical care and the operation they agreed to. Wrong-patient surgery can lead to sentinel events that cause severe harm, catastrophic injuries, or even death.
4. Equipment Failure or Inadequate Use
Surgeons rely on their equipment and tools to perform surgery correctly. This equipment may include items, such as scalpels, biofeedback machines, computers, cameras, and more. As surgical technology advances, the amount of equipment has increased in the operating room.
Medical errors can occur if doctors are not properly trained, fail to use the necessary equipment, or the equipment itself fails. The doctor, staff, or even the hospital may be legally responsible for this breach of the standard of care.
5. Failure to Follow Proper Protocols for Hygiene and Disinfection
Surgeons undergo a multi-step process to wash their hands and disinfect their bodies prior to surgery. Failure to follow these protocols can result in serious infections that damage your body or even lead to death. Surgical site infections (SSIs) often occur because the staff failed to clean the area, their own hands, or the medical instruments used in the surgery.
Hygiene and disinfection protocols also apply to the patient’s body before, during, and after surgery. Hospital staff should understand and follow all of these steps to prevent serious infections.
6. Incorrect Anesthesia Dosages
Anesthesia is a crucial part of many surgeries. It keeps the patient safely unconscious during the surgery when handled properly. However, the wrong dosage can cause very serious issues. Too little may cause the patient to wake up during surgery and experience severe pain and trauma. Too much can lead to a coma, brain damage, or even death.
Anesthesiologists must be cautious and responsible when handling this dangerous but necessary part of the surgery. Their failure to do so is likely medical malpractice.
7. Causing Nerve Damage, Hemorrhage, or Excessive Bleeding
Medical errors during surgery may cause serious and even permanent forms of damage. The surgeon cuts through tissue, nerves, bone, and more during many surgeries. Serious nerve damage can occur when the surgery is performed improperly, which may lead to pain or loss of sensation in the affected area.
Surgeries may also cause hemorrhages or excessive bleeding in patients. A surgeon may nick an artery, give improper amounts of medication, resulting in bleeding issues, or other mistakes that may lead to serious harm.
8. Foreign Objects Left Inside a Patient’s Body
Leaving foreign objects inside a patient’s body is one of the most common and dangerous mistakes that could occur during surgery. These foreign objects are often materials used during surgery, such as gauze, medical instruments, or sanitization equipment.
When these objects are left behind, they can cause severe infections. These infections often require heavy doses of antibiotics and further surgery to remove the foreign object.
9. Poor Communication of the Medical Staff Leading to Surgical Mistakes
Every medical staff member before, during, and after the surgery must communicate well to avoid surgical mistakes. Lack of communication often means important people have the wrong information about a patient and make mistakes because of that information. Staff should be highly trained on proper communication methods and ways to accurately record important information.
Seek Legal Assistance for Surgical Errors and Medical Malpractice
Surgical mistakes can leave you injured, in pain, and dealing with severe financial fallout. The medical bills could be piling up all while you try to recover from the surgery that was supposed to help you rather than hurt you. At McEldrew Purtell, our dedicated attorneys and staff know how to investigate your case. We look for the most common medical errors during surgery when reviewing your case and thoroughly investigate the harm caused to you.
Let our experienced team help you through this difficult time. Contact us today for a free consultation of your case.
