Immediately after the surgery, the man began experiencing complications. After one attempt to repair the heart after the other, the man left with a new heart but also extensive brain damage. He is now no longer able to walk or talk.

According to the complaint, the man’s doctors did not respond quickly enough to post-surgical complications. This led to a lack of blood flow to his brain resulting in the consequent damage.

This Man is not the Only Patient to Receive a Low Standard of Care at St. Luke’s

St. Luke’s was purchased in 2013 by Catholic Health Initiatives, a non-profit hospital chain. Since then, the standard of care has rapidly dwindled. The program, once renowned in the field of heart surgery, lost several key physicians.

After losing three patients in the first 5 months of 2018, St. Luke’s has voluntarily suspended its heart transplant program. By June 15th, however, the hospital had made key changed to its transplant program and was ready to go back in business. Due in large part to a lack of confidence in the hospital, Medicare and Medicaid announced that they would suspend reimbursements for heart transplants to St. Luke’s.

The Case against the Plaintiff

The hospital maintained that its surgical problems were relegated to 2015 when 21 patients died. The man received his surgery in 2016. Hence the hospital’s defense is: “we didn’t kill that many people that year.” That’s not exactly a winner in most courtrooms. That is especially true considering the fact that were, in fact, a number of patients who suffered complications that year.

While the man is still alive, his quality of life has been greatly reduced by a simple mistake and a lapse in the basic standard of care that the majority of doctors would offer their patients.

The man is not alone in suffering these kinds of symptoms. Many of St. Luke’s patients suffered serious strokes. Several of them died as a result. This man did not. That does not, however, constitute an endorsement of the quality of work that St. Luke’s performed in 2016.

The Case against St. Luke’s

Statistically, St. Luke’s program has generated some of the worst outcomes of any heart transplant hospital in the country and now ranks near the bottom nationally. This must be a tough blow to a center that prided itself on being among the most renowned in the world. Nonetheless, St. Luke’s loses twice as many patients as the national average.

Because of this, not only could the physician who performed the surgery be held liable for medical malpractice, but so could a hospital that failed to act on an increasing number of negative outcomes under his leadership.

Have You Been Injured by Medical Negligence?

If so, the Miami personal injury attorneys at the office of Alan Goldfarb, P.A. of Miami can help you get compensation for your injuries. Give us a call at (305) 371-3111 or contact us online for a free consultation.

Resources:

propublica.org/article/baylor-st-lukes-hospital-heart-transplant-brain-damage-lawsuit

documentcloud.org/documents/4572595-Jackson-Lawsuit.html

Her attending doctor, a rheumatologist of Holy Cross Hospital in Broward County, failed to properly diagnose ulcerations in the woman’s feet. The doctor waited a week before transferring the woman to the University of Miami Hospital. But by then it was too late. The tissue in her feet and toes had necrotized. In other words, the tissue died.

Proving Medical Negligence

Statistically, the majority of medical malpractice lawsuits arise from misdiagnosis cases.

In a lawsuit such as this, the plaintiff’s job is to prove that the doctor failed an agreed upon standard of care. In other words, they must show that the defendant neglected to do something that a reasonable doctor would have under the same circumstances.

That injuries result from an adverse medical outcome is not enough to prove malpractice. Even if the injuries suffered by the plaintiff are egregious and life-altering, the plaintiff’s attorney must be able to prove that the doctor failed in some way to offer their patient a reasonable standard of care.

In this case, the patient was admitted to Holy Cross Hospital in 2008 complaining of pain in her hands and ulcerations in her toes and feet. These are common symptoms in those who suffer from vasculitis. Vasculitis is an inflammation of the blood vessels. If left untreated, vasculitis can cause serious damage to organs. It is typically treated with immunosuppressants like steroids. In this woman’s case, the disease was allowed to progress to the extent that caused cell death in her fingers and toes. The only thing that doctors could do for her at that point was to remove the dead tissue.

When the woman arrived at the hospital, she was near death. Nine of her toes and a part of her foot had to be amputated. She also lost her right thumb and the tips of two fingers that had turned black from gangrene.

She was not only disfigured as a result of the doctor’s negligence, but she is left permanently impaired as well. The woman now requires the use of prosthetic devices to help her walk. She can only stand for 30 minutes at a time.

In cases like these, plaintiffs are customarily awarded heavily for pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of earning capacity, inability to enjoy their lives, inability to do household chores, and future medical expenses.

The woman was award $5 million for medical costs, $900,000 for lost wages, and $10 million for pain and suffering.

Have You been the Victim of Medical Malpractice?

If so, the attorneys at the office of Alan Goldfarb, P.A. in Miami can help you get compensation for your injuries. Give us a call at (305) 371-3111 or contact us online. We can begin preparing your case right away.

Resources:

miamiherald.com/news/local/community/broward/article184004651.html

modernhealthcare.com/article/20180313/NEWS/180319965

One woman who went in for treatments for her macular degeneration had her own fat cells injected into her eye. Within a week of the procedure, her left eye began to detach, then her right eye went. Now, after several surgeries that attempted to undo the damage, the woman is blind, can no longer read, or see the faces of her own grandchildren. She has filed a lawsuit against the center alleging negligence.

Most People are Unaware the Treatment is Unproven and Untested

Stem cells are notable for their ability to regenerate or to become any kind of cell. It is widely believed that eventually, medical science will hone stem cell therapy in order to regrow damaged tissue. At the same time, medical science has not quite figured out how to use the healing power of stem cells in order to treat conditions such as macular degeneration. Yet stem-cell clinics are touting their treatments as a revolutionary form of therapy. They are neither warning their patients about the possible dangers nor informing their patients that the treatment is not approved by the FDA.

Not Subject to FDA Approval?

It’s unclear what, if any, authority the FDA has over these matters. Over the past couple of years, the FDA has issued warnings to some clinics and seized a “concoction” produced by one stem-cell clinic to “fight cancer.” Since the clinics use fat extracted from the patient’s own body to “treat” these different problems, they are not, in effect, producing a new drug that the FDA has the power to regulate.

The states have gotten involved, however. Last year, California passed a law requiring stem-cell clinics to explicitly state that the therapies are not approved by the FDA. The FDA, on the other hand, is still fighting to target these procedures and prevent clinics from administering them to unwitting patients. The clinics are responding by saying that patients have a right to use the cells of their own body for experimental treatment.

Nonetheless, practitioners of this form of therapy are injecting stem cells into brains, eyes, and spines, which is, in and of itself, a very delicate medical procedure. The lack of oversight and accountability for this burgeoning industry has many legislators concerned.

Adverse results, however, have been rare. Rarer still is any evidence that the treatment provides the desired effects. It will be interesting to see if the woman who was blinded by the experimental therapy is able to collect on her negligence claim.

Have You Been Injured by a Medical Procedure?

If you have, reach out to the team at the office of Alan Goldfarb, P.A. of Miami. We’ll do everything in our power to see that your case is resolved to your satisfaction.

Resources:

fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm286155.htm

washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/miracle-cures-or-modern-quackery-stem-cell-clinics-multiply-with-heartbreaking-results-for-some-patients/2018/04/29/80cbcee8-26e1-11e8-874b-d517e912f125_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.ac4187a5b4e1

Now, the family is alleging that the care he received at the hospital was a “direct and proximate cause” of misdiagnosing his condition. Apparently, Prince believed that he was taking Percocet the night he died, but the pills themselves actually contained a much more potent street-grade version of the drug fentanyl.

Fentanyl is said to be 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin and is fatal in even very small doses. Police launched an investigation into Prince’s death and were able to determine that the drug Prince took was not Percocet, but fentanyl. About a week later, Prince took another dose and died. Since authorities could not determine the source of the drug, no one was charged in the death.

But the family believes that the hospital that treated Prince should have known that the drug he took was fentanyl and not Percocet.

The Narcan Factor

Narcan is an anti-opioid drug that is used to revive patients that are suffering an overdose. The drug reverses the effects of opioids in the body. For most opioids, it only takes one shot of Narcan to reverse an overdose, but those who are overdosing from fentanyl routinely require more than that because of how powerful fentanyl is.

This is a key component of the plaintiff’s argument since Prince refused to have his blood and urine tested after the incident.

A Difficult Case to Win

While the laws governing malpractice cases tend to differ from state to state, the only evidence that the doctor could have had to indicate that the drug Prince overdosed on was fentanyl and not Percocet was the amount of Narcan it took to revive him. It’s apparent that the doctor’s failure to properly diagnose the drug that caused the overdose resulted in the death of the beloved pop star, but in order to prove medical malpractice, the plaintiffs must show that she and others failed a certain standard of care.

The pills themselves were sent away to a pharmacist to be tested. They had been made to look like a generic form of Vicodin, and the pharmacist who studied the pill concluded that it was hydrocodone. The plaintiffs will key in on these facts in order to prove that the doctors and pharmacists in the case failed to identify the pill properly.

Have You Been Injured by a Misdiagnosis?

Then you may be entitled to damages. The Miami attorneys at the office of Alan Goldfarb, P.A. have handled numerous misdiagnosis lawsuits in the Miami area. Give us a call at 305.371.3111 and will begin discussing your case right away.

Resources:

cbsnews.com/news/medical-errors-now-3rd-leading-cause-of-death-in-u-s-study-suggests/

nytimes.com/2018/04/23/arts/music/prince-overdose-wrongful-death-lawsuit.html

Cosmetic surgery procedures are becoming more and more common – for the right amount of money, you can have just about anything lifted, tucked, or chiseled. One of the increasingly popular procedures is a Brazilian butt lift. For one Miami area cosmetic surgery patient, the results were not what she anticipated; she alleges her surgeon botched the surgery by injecting too much fat into her buttocks, then medicated her incorrectly and failed to provide the proper care afterwards. Officials have received similar complaints from several other patients who alleged that they required hospitalization for complications from their cosmetic surgeries; one patient alleges that the surgeon actually performed a completely different procedure on her than she was supposed to receive, ending up with a tummy tuck instead of a butt lift.

Duty Owed

With a cosmetic surgery, as with any medical service, a patient expects to receive competent care and service. While mistakes happen and accidents occur, a medical provider is held to certain standards and, when they fail to meet these standards, a patient may have a medical malpractice case against the doctor or healthcare provider. Many times we may not even realize that medical malpractice has occurred, but in reality, it occurs with alarming frequency. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, only heart disease and cancer rank higher than medical negligence as a leading cause of death in this country. It is important to note that not every mistake a medical professional makes automatically gives rise to a medical malpractice claim – in order for medical malpractice to have occurred, certain factors must be present. First, the treatment received must have had to be lower than the accepted standard of care, and secondly, the sub-standard service must have caused harm to the patient. According to Section 766.203 of the Florida Code, anyone seeking to initiate a medical malpractice claim must ensure that there are reasonable grounds to believe that these two factors do, in fact, exist.

Experts Needed

Medical malpractice cases can be difficult to prove due to the subjectivity of the issues involved. For this reason, expert witnesses will likely be an essential component in any successful medical malpractice lawsuit. Experts can provide the information necessary to establish the standard of care that should have been met by showing what a reasonably prudent healthcare provider would have done and then demonstrate that the medical provider failed to meet that standard.

Need Help With A Medical Malpractice Case?

When you or a loved one has been the victim of medical malpractice, you are entitled to be compensated for the losses you have suffered. The law provides for victims to receive damages for medical malpractice and you could be entitled to money for medical bills, lost earnings, lost earning capacity, and pain and suffering. Our Miami medical malpractice attorneys have the experience handling medical malpractice cases and the network of experts necessary for a successful case to help you achieve the results you deserve. Contact us today at the office of Alan Goldfarb, P.A.  to schedule your consultation and start on your path to recovery without delay.

Resources:

http://www.nbcmiami.com/investigations/New-Brazilian-Butt-Lift-Complaint-Made-Against-Doctor-395339911.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/learnvest/2013/05/16/10-things-you-want-to-know-about-medical-malpractice/#4cd5673e2323

The Rising Risk of IVC Filters

Cardiology medical devices may help prevent many aspects of cardiovascular disease, including stroke. IVC filters, for example, are designed to prevent blood clots. While these devices can often be quite effective for many patients, they can also present some issues when they migrate from their original insertion position. Bard IVC filters have presented some health issues, but the company has repeatedly failed to provide a recall for its products. Even the company’s improved filters have presented similar threatening issues to patients.

The medical industry has seen its fair share of legal cases. Plaintiffs with such companies allege that these products are defective and pose a continual health threat to patients if the product can’t be retrieved successfully. Many patients have taken legal action to try and garner compensation from manufacturers in order to pay for medical care and other related costs associated with their injuries. Cook Medical, another company that produces IVC filters, has recently been sued by a woman who experienced an injury from their product.

Medical Devices and Personal Injury: What Patients Should Know

Patients who have been injured by a medical device should know they have the right to seek compensation from the manufacturer. This compensation can help pay for any medical care or distress experienced by the patient. Cases such as these also force companies to recall products, which hopefully results in improved, safer medical device designs in the future. Therefore, seeking legal action for a medical device injury is not only practical and personal, but it’s also helpful for countless patients who will require these devices later down the road. Personal injury lawyers are crucial for handling such cases, and finding one that specializes in medical devices and product liabilities may be the best route of action to take.

Let Alan Goldfarb P.A. Trial Attorneys Help You

The Miami attorneys at the office of Alan Goldfarb P.A. focus on personal injury and medical malpractice. Our trained personal injury lawyers are experienced working with medical device cases. We understand that our clients may require financial rewards to help cover medical costs, and we aim to help our clients receive the compensation they deserve. If you’ve been injured from a medical device or product and you want to discuss possible legal actions you can take, call our Miami-based personal injury attorneys at (305) 371-3111. We’re here to discuss the details of your case and help you find the best action plan you can take to be successful.

Time Limit To File A Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

If you believe you are the victim of medical malpractice, you should be aware that the State of Florida has strict deadlines, called the statute of limitations, on how long you have to file a lawsuit against the negligent healthcare provider. In Florida, an action for medical malpractice must be filed within two years of the incident occurring or within two years of discovering the incident. However, despite the date of the incident, or your discovery of it, no medical malpractice suit can be filed after four years of the incident. This time limit does not apply to a minor who was injured before their eighth birthday. Therefore it is important you contact a lawyer to properly file your lawsuit as soon as possible so your case is not dismissed for exceeding the time limits imposed by Florida law.

Florida Medical Malpractice Caps On Noneconomic Injuries

In the State of Florida, there are laws in place that limit the amount of non-economic damages you may receive in you medical malpractice lawsuit. Noneconomic damages include pain and suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, mental anguish, disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life as a result of your injury (or death) caused by your negligent healthcare provider. For personal injury or wrongful death due to medical negligence of a practitioner, non-economic damages may not exceed $500,000 in damages. For personal injury or wrongful death due to the medical negligence of a non-practitioner, non-economic damages may not exceed $750,000. If the medical malpractice of a practitioner resulted in a permanent vegetative state or death, noneconomic damages may not exceed $1 million. And if the medical malpractice of a non–practitioner resulted in a permanent vegetative state or death, noneconomic damages may not exceed $1.5 million.

There are, however a variety of special circumstances, such as catastrophic injury that results in permanent impairment, which may affect how much you are awarded for you case. Financial compensation can be a complex aspect of your case, therefore it is paramount that you contact a lawyer thoroughly experienced in Florida medical malpractice.

Economic Injuries

In addition to noneconomic damages for you medical malpractice case, you may also be entitled to economic damages. Economic damages are your financial losses that would not have occurred but for the negligent injury caused by your healthcare provider. Economic injuries generally include past and future medical expenses, 80 percent of your wage loss and your loss of earning capacity.

We Can Help You File a Claim for Compensation

Medical malpractice is one of the most complex areas of law and your case should be handled by a lawyer. An intricate investigation, expert medical opinions, mandatory time limits to file your medical malpractice case as well as noneconomic and economic damages are just a few of the intricacies to your case. If you or anyone you know has been injured or died due the negligent actions of a healthcare provider, contact the medical malpractice lawyers at the Miami office of Alan Goldfarb, P.A. to evaluate your case and receive just compensation.

The frequency of surgical errors in the United States varies significantly depending on the source of the information: the current authoritative study, Surgical never events in the United States, published in the medical journal Surgery, quotes a figure of about 1,000 occurrences a year.  Their data, however, is likely low because these figures were derived from medical malpractice claims; since many if not most incidents are resolved without a claim being filed, this method of collection is going to be significantly lower than actual occurrences.  Other sources using different reporting methods claim a number greater than 4,000; however, this number does not reflect unreported cases, and since many cases involve issues that remain undetected, this amount is likely suspect as well.

The Most Common Errors

Surgical errors can cover a wide variety of different issues that have occurred to patients while receiving medical treatment, but a very small number of errors make up the vast majority of reported problems, including:

• Leaving a piece of surgical equipment inside of a patient after closure;
• Operating on the wrong side of a patient;
• Placing an incision in an incorrect location;
• Performing the wrong procedure, or operating on the wrong patient;
• Injuring a nerve during a procedure; and
• Administering incorrect medication, typically anesthesia errors.

All of these issues are not risks related to the actual procedure—a patient’s informed consent waivers do not cover these matters, regardless of what hospital administrators may attempt to convince you.  (A patient might do well to consider how many of them could also be avoided with a permanent marker.)

Causes

While there is debate about the number of times surgical errors occur, one thing that the studies agree on is that the root cause usually stems from poor communication of one sort or another.  This can lead to anything from improper medication dosing, to not having the correct equipment on hand, to medical staff marking the wrong surgical site during pre-operative procedures.

Additionally, personal issues on the part of a surgeon can result in mistakes being made as well: being fatigued from working long hours, rushing or taking shortcuts, and even drug or alcohol problems have all resulted in patients being injured during medical procedures.

Surgeons’ Statistics

The surgeons most likely to have surgical errors statistically aren’t who you may expect.  They tend to be between the ages of 40 and 49 (as are the patients most likely to be injured), and in the middle of their careers—not surgeons new to the practice of medicine, nor ones nearing retirement.  Less surprising, however, is that around two thirds of surgeons involved in a surgical mistake have been involved in multiple events.

Miami Medical Mistake Attorneys

If you or a loved one has been injured during a surgical procedure, contact an attorney at the office of Alan Goldfarb, P.A. online or by telephone at 305-371-3111 today. Our Miami lawyers will discuss your situation with you and determine the best way to proceed with your potential lawsuit.

It is not always possible to avoid injury during a delivery. However, birth injuries caused by medical negligence may result from:

• Improper Forceps Use: A mother may have difficulty delivering her child if the child is not properly positioned. If this happens a doctor may use forceps to help position the child and help the delivery. Using forceps can help reduce the risk of oxygen deprivation and distress. Proper use of forceps can prevent birth injuries; however, improper use can damage a child’s neck, chest or head.

• Improper Vacuum Use: A doctor may use a vacuum when a baby has difficulty escaping the birth canal. Vacuums can be used to suction a baby’s shoulder or skull to help guide the baby out the birth canal. Doctors or other medical personnel are responsible for ensuring the vacuum is properly placed on the baby. When not properly placed, the vacuum can cause severe injuries to the mother and baby.

• Failing to Order a Caesarian: A doctor may order an emergency Cesarean, or C-section, if a baby shows signs of distress. If the doctor and delivery team fail to recognize distress and delay ordering a C-section, they may be responsible for any injuries resulting from that delay.

• Hypoxia: A baby may suffer from hypoxia when its brain does not receive enough oxygen during childbirth. An infection, tangled umbilical cord, or damaged placenta may cause hypoxia. If hypoxia is not properly identified and addressed, a child may suffer mental and physical disabilities. If a doctor fails to notice signs of hypoxia and take action to avoid injury, the doctor and the delivery team may be responsible for any resulting damage.

The following complications during birth might also indicate medical malpractice was a factor that caused your child’s birth injury:

• Improper use of pitocin;
• Failure to perform specialized test during pregnancy;
• Failure to identify and treat infections, placental abruption, umbilical cord entrapment or premature membrane rupture;
• Failure to refer high-risk patients to specialist;
• Failure to identify changes in the fetus’ condition; and
• Failure to order pre-natal testing.

Contact an Attorney

Birth injuries can be caused by a number of factors and it is not always possible to avoid injury. However, if you believe your baby was injured at birth due to a doctor’s or nurse’s carelessness, then you should contact the Miami birth injury attorneys at the office of Alan Goldfarb, P.A. We can discuss the circumstances of your child’s birth and guide you through the medical malpractice claim process. Please contact us today at 866-936-9761 to discuss how we can help you.

The controversial amendments to Florida’s medical malpractice laws were certain informal discovery rules. These new rules, found in Florida Statutes 766.106, authorized hospitals and doctors to contact and interview the victim’s treating healthcare provider. These new amendments were seen by the legislature as a way of expediting medical malpractice claims by increasing the number of settlements. But on the other hand, victims’ rights advocates saw the new laws as an invasion of privacy.

Legal Challenge to the New Laws

These amendments were challenged by a woman who wanted to file a medical malpractice suit, but was concerned that the new amendments violated her constitutional and federal medical privacy rights. The woman challenged the law with four different arguments, each asserting that the new laws violated:

1. Florida’s separation of powers doctrine.
2. Florida’s prohibition of special legislation.
3. Florida’s constitutional guarantee of free access to the courts.
4. Her rights to privacy; and
5. Federal medical privacy laws (commonly known as HIPAA).

If upheld, the woman’s challenges would have allowed her to go forward with her suit, but without the worry of her treating physicians being interviewed by the hospital’s lawyers and agents. Additionally, a successful challenge would open the way for other victims of medical malpractice to pursue their cases without fear their rights would be challenged.

But the court denied each of the challenges, determining that the new amendments did not violate any of her rights. In its decision, the court went through each argument and explained why they thought the arguments should fail.

Result and Impact of Court’s Decision

The appeals court’s decision to deny each of these arguments dealt a blow to privacy rights advocates and future medical malpractice litigants. While the intent and stated purpose of the law is noble enough, the actual results put a burden on claimants who simply want to recover for the damages caused to them by negligent medical professionals. Additionally, the new laws allow hospitals and doctors to invade the privacy of the claimant before formal discovery has begun in court.

As you can see from this decision, Florida medical malpractice laws are very complex. Because of these new amendments and other provisions found in Florida’s medical malpractice statutes, a medical malpractice lawsuit must be filed by an attorney or law firm with experience in this area of law so that no mistakes are made. In a suit as complex as medical malpractice, even a simple mistake can permanently alter the ability of a victim to recover for her injuries.

At Alan Goldfarb, P.A., we have the experience that your case demands. We represent victims of accidents, injuries, and malpractice on a daily basis. In fact, our practice is focused on seeking just reimbursement for victims’ pain and suffering. Contact us in Miami so we can review your case and provide you with your legal options.