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Special Edition Legal Case Study


Healthcare Professionals and Medical Malpractice: A Case Study with Risk Management Strategies

Medical malpractice claims can be asserted against any healthcare provider. Although there may be a perception that physicians are held responsible for the majority of lawsuits, the reality is that healthcare professionals, including physical therapists, pharmacists and counselors are more frequently finding themselves defending the care they provide.


Physical Therapist Edition

Case Study: Overly Aggressive Treatment

This case involves a 42-year old female with a long history of bilateral knee injuries and subsequent surgeries. She received her first surgery at age 14 to her right knee and then both knees at ages 16, 18, 21 and then again at 40... Read the Full Case with Risk Management Recommendations

Pharmacist Edition

Case Study: Failure to Monitor

In this case, the defendant pharmacist was employed by a home infusion pharmacy where he was the head pharmacist and also was appointed director of pharmacy. The home infusion company provided home health care to patients, including the dispensing and administration of oral and parenteral medications, nursing care, personal care services and case management... Read the Full Case with Risk Management Recommendations

Counselor Edition

Case Study: Inappropriate Behavior and Sexual Misconduct by Counselor

The defendant was a licensed mental health counselor in solo practice who treated the client (a 51-year-old married woman) for multiple issues over approximately a two-year period. The client's intake form stated she was seeking treatment for problems in her marriage, symptoms related to being an adult child of an alcoholic, co-dependency and difficulties with communication. The defendant treated the client both separately and in couples' therapy sessions with her husband... Read the Full Case with Risk Management Recommendations




May 2009 Legal Case Study



Failure to Promptly Transport Man to Hospital Blamed for Death - Ambulance Crew Claims Proper Protocols Were Followed - $1.5 Million Settlement.

The plaintiffs decedent, age fifty-one, began having trouble breathing and 911 was called. A New York City Fire Department unit arrived shortly thereafter, and an ambulance from an ambulance service was dispatched. The decedent was found slumped over his desk, having difficulty breathing and was determined to be in anaphylactic shock. The ambulance call report noted that he was found cyanotic with diminished lung sounds, but that he was alert and oriented. His vital signs were unstable and worsening and his case was assigned a high priority by the ambulance crew.

After he was loaded into the ambulance he was examined and intubation was attempted when he began to crash. He was then transported to a hospital. Upon arrival at the hospital he was unresponsive, had no pulse, no blood pressure and he had no spontaneous reflexes. His pupils were also fixed, indicting that brain death had occurred before he had arrived. He was officially pronounced dead.

The plaintiff alleged that the defendants were negligent in failing to timely transport the decedent to the hospital. The plaintiff claimed that the ambulance crew should have immediately transported him to a hospital instead of remaining at the scene examining the decedent. The intubation attempted by the ambulance crew had gone into the esophagus, instead of the lungs.

The defendants argued that they had followed proper protocols and that the decedent was taken to the nearest hospital as soon as he began to crash.

According to a published account a $1.6 million settlement was reached through mediation.

With permission from Medical Malpractice Verdicts, Settlements & Experts; Lewis Laska, Editor, 901 Church St., Nashville, TN 37203-3411, 1-800-298-6288.

 

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