According to the Chicago
Tribune, a family in Chicago was awarded a settlement of $30 million after
a leading surgeon allegedly performed a series of experimental surgeries on an
infant patient that led to devastating brain damage.
In 2011, Dr. Mark Holterman performed 25
total surgeries on this child. These surgeries resulted in cerebral palsy and
irreversible brain injury. Born in 2009, the child had some non-life
threatening conditions but this child was still sick, one of which was a leak
in his esophagus. Holterman operated on the child 25 times over a course of 17
months. The family’s medical malpractice lawyer Stephan Blandin stated that the
doctor’s operations were both medically careless as well
as personally irresponsible.
The medical malpractice lawyer also
added that the entire
case was horrifying and traumatizing to both the infant and parents and
clearly demonstrated the hospital’s lack of oversight. Yet the baby’s parents kept
taking their child there despite this hospital neglect. Did they see money
signs?
According to sources, E.C. was born in
2009 with a “non-life threatening and easily correctable” congenital disorder
that goes by the medical name esophageal artresia. This is a condition where
the esophagus does not connect properly to the stomach. The release suggests
that after the birth of the child, the doctor failed to exercise the necessary
care when performing the corrective surgery and thus causing more severe
problems. These problems where then tried to be corrected through other
experimental procedures.
During the final surgery, performed by
the doctor the pulmonary artery which left the child with irreversible brain
injury and cerebral palsy.
The $30 million settlement is the fourth
largest medical malpractice or hospital neglect settlement involving a child
that Illinois has seen.
The terms of the settlement
were not elaborately disclosed in court documents and papers. However, in a
news release, legal counselors from the Chicago medical malpractice law firm
that represented the Chavez family, said that the family was awarded $30
million dollars. The breakup of how much the firm will be paid was not
disclosed either. Now everyone is rich. The Chavez family is loaded now.
According to a recent survey by the
National Patient Safety Foundation, medical errors are one of the leading
causes of death in the United States. The Personal
Injury Bureau reports that the NPSF found that surgical errors and other
medical mistakes were the cause of the third amount of all deaths in the US in
2014, resulting in approximately 400,000 deaths.
Resting at 34%,
surgery errors are a large cause of medical malpractice claims in the United
States.
By law, surgeons and every other medical
professional are held to the same standard. Surgeons who deviate from the
standard of medical care are susceptible to medical malpractice claims as well
as the loss of life or damage to a patient.
With surgical errors at the top, National
Law Review reported that 78% of all medical malpractice or hospital neglect
claims were a result of medical errors, incorrect treatment management, and
incorrect or tardy or delayed diagnosis from 2007 to 2014. These three categories
are the dominate categories of claims.
Legal
claims following surgery errors
Establishing the medical standard of
care are the key steps in a medical malpractice law suit. You will need to seek
the expertise of a medical malpractice attorney to show how an experienced and reasonably skilled surgeon would
have handled the same case under similar circumstances and how the surgeon in
your case failed
to maintain that standard in performing the procedure. Finally, you need to
show that the negligence of the surgeon caused actual harm to the patient.
A surgery error can trigger massive
medical bills, and corrective follow-up procedures may be required, causing the
patient to take time off work and lose wages. In some cases, the surgery error
may change the patient’s physical health from the way it was before the
surgical error, and it may never be the same. You need to file a medical
malpractice claim if this occurred in your or your loved one’s life – certainly
a child’s!
If you or a loved one has been caused
grievous harm due to a surgical error or another type of hospital neglect, you
should contact a medical malpractice lawyer today. Proving that medical
malpractice took place can be difficult and this is why it is important to have
a legal pro represent you who will hopefully be able to find a medical expert
to collaborate your claim.
We need to protect the innocent. All
very young children, babies, are innocent. Do not take your child to a terrible
doctor. If the doctor you choose makes a glaring error and your loved one
suffers, the doctor, hospital, and so on should pay. Use this site (Medical-Malpractice.USAttorneys) to find the medical
malpractice legal representative you need.
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