Eugene Medical Malpractice Law Blog

Following the death of a patient, a California doctor is facing multiple accusations by the state medical board. He has been accused of gross negligence, numerous negligent acts and unprofessional conduct among other charges. The accusations were made after his patient died from complications surrounding the placement of a pacemaker.

According to the medical board's Department of Consumer Affairs, the licensed cardiologist did not follow proper procedures when treating the patient. Specifically, he did not properly insert the pacemaker in the patient who had a history of stroke. In addition to hospital staff negligence, he is also accused of lying under oath about the facts of the case.

Oregon patients may be interested to learn of a recent study conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University. The study discovered surprising information concerning the leading type of errors that give rise to medical malpractice lawsuits. The findings of the study published in the journal BMJ Quality and Safety show that diagnostic errors were more likely to cause patient harm, and resulted in a higher number of claims and payouts when compared to surgical or medication mistakes.

The study looked at 350,706 malpractice claims filed in the United States over the past 25 years. The data came from the National Practitioner Data Bank. Researchers found that out of paid medical malpractice claims, nearly 29% were based on diagnostic errors. Diagnostic errors refer to a failure to diagnose or a delay in diagnosis by a negligent physician. A higher number of fatalities and other serious patient injuries were related to these types of errors as compared to other medical mistakes.

Oregon residents may be interested to know that a jury in another state recently awarded $130 million to the family of a child who suffers from serious permanent disabilities related to cerebral palsy. The jury concluded that the girl suffered her condition because of an injury during the delivery process.

The family sued a hospital following their child's birth there. Because of her cerebral palsy, the child needs assistance walking, talking and even swallowing. She will likely need extensive and costly care for the rest of her life.

In a story that our firm continues to cover in our blog, it was recently reported that the father of a young girl burden at Doernbecher Children's Hospital has hired an attorney to pursue a lawsuit against the facility and the manufacturer of hand sanitizer involved in the incident. As our readers may be aware, the 12-year-old girl was severely burned in a fire involving hand sanitizer while a patient at the children's hospital.

The fire occurred in February in the young girl's hospital room. She was undergoing tests after losing consciousness at school. Her dad was napping in her hospital room when her shirt caught fire and she ran out. Her father and nurses had to smother the flames. The state fire marshal conducted an investigation and found that the fire was likely caused by a mixture of static electricity, vapor from the hand sanitizer and olive oil used to remove a medical device. It also found that the hospital neglected to appropriately train its staff regarding fire safety training.