Cleveland, Ohio Medical Malpractice Blog

A recent study published by the American Heart Association shows that mortality rates are higher for women in Ohio who have a heart attack (myocardial infarction or MI).  The reason for this is that women are less likely than men to present with classic findings of chest pain.  We have long known that physician bias results in misdiagnosis of MIs in women.  This study is concerning because it makes it more likely that a physician will misdiagnosis a woman having a heart attack. Read more here: http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/307/8/813.short.

Cleveland expectant mothers should be aware of the dangers of epidurals during childbirth. It appears that there are frequent side effects concerning the epidural analgesia provided while a mother is in labor. These epidurals at times lead to a spike in a woman's body temperature and can lead to birth injury  for the child.

Fevers following epidurals can be related to poor muscle tone, breathing difficulties, poor APGAR scores (appearance, pulse, grimace, activity and respiration observations at birth) and seizures. The higher the mother's temperature during labor, the more likely the newborn child is to develop these symptoms. As many as 19 percent of women taking epidurals had fevers above 100.4 degrees while only 2.4 percent of women had a fever without epidurals.

There was almost three times the chance that the baby would require resuscitation at birth when a mother experienced such a fever. Fortunately, women who didn't develop fevers following epidurals were likely to deliver babies without any significant health problems.

Approximately 20 percent of children of mothers taking epidurals experienced an adverse outcome at birth in hospitals. This should place physicians on notice concerning the risks of providing such injections. And since the risks are high, medical providers need to provide parents all necessary information to assess the risks and benefits.

Proving birth injuries related to epidurals are complex. If you suspect that an epidural has led to an infection or other birth related complications you need to consult with an experienced birth injury attorney. When such injuries do occur, contact us at Mishkind Law for the assistance of an experienced attorney in the medical malpractice and birth injury areas.

Source: U.S. News, "Epidural Plus Fever in Mom May Raise Risks for Baby," by Jennifer Goodwin, Feb. 3, 2012

A decrease in oxygen to an infant during labor and delivery can lead to catastrophic as well as fatal results. Oxygen deprivation (often described by the medical terms "anoxia" and "hypoxia") is caused when the supply of oxygen to an infant's brain is reduced. It can happen in all stages of pregnancy, labor and delivery. The affects of oxygen deprivation are severe, most prominently causing brain damage, Cerebral Palsy and death.  At Mishkind Law we have helped many families deal with this type of injury. http://www.mishkindlaw.com/Birth-Injury-Cases/

While natural circumstances, like the umbilical cord becoming compressed or twisted, can cause oxygen deprivation, medical malpractice, or negligence may also be the cause. There are many ways that medical negligence can cause oxygen deprivation:

Failure to use proper monitoring equipment

Failure to consistently monitor the fetus and infant

Failure to seek the help of a specialist when needed

Failure to do a cesarean section (C-section) when needed

If you believe that your you may be the victim of negligence by a nurse or obstetrician leading to your child's birth injury, call or email our team to learn  about your options.

In an earlier Mishkind Law blog post, I spoke about new guidelines for the prevention of pulmonary embolism published by the American College of Physicians (ACP).  Here, are new, more detailed guidelines published by the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP):  http://chestjournal.chestpubs.org/content/141/2_suppl/7S.full.html.  The ACCP includes those physicians, pulmonologists and critical care specialists, who specializes in caring for patients with, or at risk for, pulmonary embolism (PE).

We have long known that inadequate nursing staffing leads to nursing negligence.  The bottom line is that when hospitals cut nursing staffing to save a buck, patient safety suffers.  In such a setting, errors, from inadequate monitoring to medication errors, propagate.  However, the powerful hospital lobby has successfully prevented legislation that sets safe nurse-to-patient staffing ratios in every State except California.  Sadly, absent legislation, hospitals are willing to understaff to improve profits, even when patients are put at risk.  This compelling video shows exactly how overstretched nurses make errors: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGK9_CkhRNw.    

As part of receiving Medicare payments from the federal government, hospitals are required to maintain records of all medical errors in order to improve care offered to patients.

A new study by the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Daniel Levinson, reports that few preventable injuries or infections are actually reported as required. In fact, the report estimated that only about one in seven of the mistakes, accidents and errors that harm Medicare patients is identified and actually reported by hospital staff.

Levinson estimates that in a single month over 130,000 recipients of Medicare benefits experience at least one adverse event while in the hospital. Levinson stated to the New York Times that some of the most egregious errors, including surgical errors and those that resulted in fatalities, go unreported by medical staff.

Today was another sad day for Ohioans injured by drunk drivers, nursing home abuse and sexual deviants.  The Ohio Supreme Court upheld legislation that requires a trial court to split cases into an initial phase involving compensatory damages and a second phase involving punitive damages.  The legislation was a gift to well-heeled insurance companies.  Here's how it works: in the first phase, the jury is only permitted to hear facts that support a claim of negligence, such as the fact that a Defendant's car crashed into some Plaintiff's car.  The jury will not get to hear that the Defendant was drunk at the time of the crash because that would be the subject of the second phase where punitive damages are considered.  Thus, the legislation protects the Defendant/drunk driver.  You can read the case here: http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/0/2012/2012-ohio-552.pdf.  Justices Pfeiffer and McGee-Brown dissented.

At Mishkind Law, we represent the "little guy," random Americans who paid for one kind of medical care but got something much, much worse.  The little guy gets knocked around by a healthcare system that is built for profit, not for safety.  The little guy can't compete with Big Insurance, Big Medicine, Big Pharma and Big Business' unified publicity machine, lobbyists or campaign dollars to change our dangerous healthcare system.  Even trial lawyers who represent the little guy cannot come close to competing with the resources of these Goliaths.  We can only try to get some compensation for the little guy after it's already too late.  So, when a politician comes along who won't accept money from corporations, their lawyers or other special interest groups, we take notice.  Meet Judge Bill O'Neill: http://www.oneillforjustice.com/money-and-judges-video-world-premier.  He is running for the Supreme Court of Ohio. And, he won't take special interest money.  That's worth blogging about.