Delaware Business Lawyer Blog

As a Delaware medical malpractice attorney, I find that patients are becoming more and more angry when they go into the hospital with one problem, and come down with a new problem during their hospital stay. I recently wrote about hospital acquired MRSA. Well, another serious condition that patients get while they’re in the hospital is bedsores, also called pressure sores, decubitus ulcers, and pressure ulcers. And just like MRSA, pressure sores are preventable.

The problem has been getting worse, not better. In fact, an article published in the New York Times in December of 2008 called hospital acquired bedsores an epidemic. This article, entitled “Hospitals Face a New Epidemic: Bedsores,” reported that the number of hospital patients with bedsores has risen dramatically over a 14-year period, leading to longer, more expensive hospital stays.

What causes pressure sores? They occur when the blood supply to the skin is cut off for more than two to three hours. When the blood supply is cut off, the skin dies. A bedsore starts out as a red, painful area, and eventually turns purple. If it’s not treated, a bedsore can lead to serious infection and other life-threatening complications, such as blood poisoning.

So what causes the blood supply to the skin to get cut off? It’s from staying in one position for too long. There are areas in your body where the bone is close to your skin, such as your ankles, back, buttocks, elbows, heels and hips. If you’re lying in bed or sitting in a wheelchair for a long time, or if for some other reason you’re unable to change your position, this puts pressure on the skin, and the blood supply is cut off.

Bedsores can be prevented by inspecting the skin for areas of redness. Other ways of preventing bed sores include: (1) changing position, (2) using pillows and other soft padding in wheelchairs and beds to reduce pressure and (3) keeping the skin clean and dry.

Severe bedsores are absolutely preventable, and a hospital or nursing home that allows a patient to develop bedsores should be held accountable.

As a Delaware medical malpractice attorney, I believe it's only a matter of time before a patient in Delaware sues a hospital because he came down with a MRSA infection. These cases are showing up around the country. For example, a Dallas jury has awarded $17.5 million in damages to a man who had to have both of his arms and both of his legs amputated because of a hospital-acquired MRSA infection. The sad thing is that MRSA infections are preventable if proper care is taken. Even worse is the fact that most MRSA infections occur in hospitals or other health care settings, such as nursing homes and dialysis centers. Here’s an excerpt from a Wall Street Journal article which appeared least month:

“Too many patients get sick in the very places that are supposed to heal them. The facts are frightening: As many as one in 10 patients hospitalized in the U.S. will come down with an infection - often due to the very care that is supposed to be restoring health. These infections afflict nearly two million patients a year, cause close to 100,000 deaths and cost up to $6.5 billion.”

Actually, in the U.S., more people die each year from MRSA than from AIDS.

MRSA symptoms can range from mild infections on the skin which cause pimples or boils, to more serious skin infections and infections of surgical wounds, the bloodstream, the lungs, or the urinary tract. It's tougher to treat than most strains of staph because it's resistant to commonly used antibiotics.

If you or a family member came down with a MRSA infection as a result of a hospital stay, you should contact a Delaware attorney to find out whether you are entitled to receive money damages to pay for such things as medical bills, nursing care, loss of income, and pain and suffering.

As a Delaware medical malpractice lawyer, I stay up to date on malpractice trials around the country. Earlier this month in Illinois, the family of a 42 year old woman who died from blood clots after having outpatient knee surgery was recently awarded more than $6 million by a jury. The woman had been having knee pain, but because it was getting worse, her family doctor referred her to an orthopedic surgeon for an evaluation. At first, the surgeon gave her an injection for the pain, and some physical therapy. The surgeon then ordered an MRI, after which he decided to perform arthroscopic surgery which took less than an hour. She was taken home by her daughter,, but the next day she was found dead on her on the bathroom floor.

Her death was caused a pulmonary embolism that occurred when deep venous thromboids that had formed at the site of the surgery traveled to her lung. The jury found that the surgeon ignored several risk factors that should have indicated that blood clotting could be a problem: the patient was somewhat obese and was taking birth control pills; she also had a personal history of asthma and hypertension and a family history of heart disease and stroke.

Had the surgeon considered these risk factors, he could have taken precautions after the surgery that should have prevented the blood clots from forming.

Interestingly, the family's lawyer had demanded $2 million to settle the case, but the insurnace company refused to settle.

Blood clots in the large veins (deep venous thrombosis) is common after othopedic surgery. When a patient is considered at risk for blood clots, all the surgeon has to do is put the patient on blood thinning medication.

As a Delaware trial lawyer, I'm proud that our court system allows parents to fight for the rights of their children. And I'm also proud that our system lets David go after Goliath, and win.

How many times have you gotten angry when your insurance company refused to pay for your medical treatment? Well, a group of parents in Michigan decided to take on BCBS when it refused to cover behavioral therapy for children with autism spectrum disorder. The case recently settled for over $1 million, and under the settlement, Blue Cross will pay for behavioral therapy rendered to over 100 children in the last six years.

According to BCBS, it had denied coverage claiming that the therapy was "experimental." Incredibly, during the lawsuit it was discovered that BCBS had internal documents that said:

"Applied behavioral analysis (ABA) is currently the most thoroughly researched treatment modality for early intervention approaches to autism spectrum disorders and is the standard of care recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, National Academy of Sciences Committee and the Association for Science in Autism Treatment."

Blue Cross' own documents further acknowledged that "The earlier the disorder is diagnosed, the sooner the child can be helped through treatment interventions."

If you believe a claim you submitted to your health insurance company was improperly denied, contact a Delaware trial lawyer to find out whether your rights have been violated.

As a Delaware trial lawyer, I’ve been closely following claims that Paxil, an anti-depressant, caused birth defects in children whose mothers took the drug during pregnancy. There are currently about 600 cases pending against GlaxoSmithKline, the manufacturer of Paxil. The first of these cases was decided just last month, when a Philadelphia jury awarded a $2.5 million judgment to the family of a young child who was born with 2 holes in his heart. According to the jury, Glaxo was negligent in not properly warning doctors of the drug's risk.

Paxil has been linked to Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension in the Newborn (PPHN) - a serious and life-threatening lung condition that occurs soon after birth. Babies with PPHN and are not able to get enough oxygen into their bloodstream. Their blood vessels constrict, making it difficult for the baby to breath properly. As a result, oxygen to the blood is cut off, and this causes damage to the baby’s brain, kidneys, and other organs.

If you took Paxil during your pregnancy, and your baby was born with PPHN, you should contact a Delaware trial lawyer to find out if you have a case against the drug manufacturer.