Medical malpractice is a very serious charge, and if you are a victim of a physician’s negligence, you should retain immediate legal assistance.
Although many assume that this type of legal action is a fairly recent phenomenon, medical malpractice stories go back as far as 1164, at which time the first known case was documented. The case, Everad v. Hoskins, involved a British servant and his master who were successful in collecting damages from the treating physician for practicing “unwholesome medicine.”
Medical Malpractice Stories – The Biggest Cases
- In 2006, one of the largest verdicts in history was awarded in Florida, when a jury awarded plaintiff Allan Navarro $216.7 million dollars. Doctors failed to recognize the stroke symptoms Mr. Navarro was experiencing, even though they were told there was a family history of strokes. They instead diagnosed him with sinusitis and sent him home with painkillers. He returned the following day and required emergency surgery for brain swelling. – After 3 months in a coma, he was confined to a wheelchair; the damage caused by the misdiagnosis also resulted in . limited cognitive abilities, and is nearly incapable of swallowing food safely.
- In 2014, New York City was ordered to pay Tiffany Applewhite a settlement of $172 million after finding the paramedics who treated her had given her mother bad advice regarding her care. Six years prior, Applewhite had been injected with steroids to treat an eye condition, but the steroids sent her into shock and stopped her heart. The first paramedics to arrive did not have the necessary life support equipment onboard their unit, such as oxygen or a defibrillator. While Applewhite’s mother insisted that she brought immediately to the hospital, the paramedics instead advised that they wait for another unit, which arrived 20 minutes later to bring her to the hospital. The delay caused Ms. Applewhite to suffer severe brain damage and paralysis. She cannot walk, talk, or care for herself.
- In one of the more recent cases, decided in 2018, 10-year-old Faith DeGrand was awarded $135 million in damages after she was partially paralyzed during an operation. She had undergone scoliosis surgery at the Children’s Hospital of Detroit Medical Center, but the implanted rods and screws compressed her spinal cord, causing immediate numbness in Faith’s extremities. The surgeon opted to delay the removal of the hardware for 10 days. The delay resulted in Faith became a quadriplegic with permanent loss of bladder and bowel control and prompted the large verdict.
Medical Negligence Quick Facts
Although you may not think that medical malpractice is an everyday occurrence, it accounts for a significant number of annual injuries and deaths in our country. In fact, according to data from Johns Hopkins Hospital, medical malpractice causes more than 250,000 deaths per year, making only heart disease and cancer more deadly. Still, the body of law only represents 5% of annual personal injury cases annually. Neurosurgeons and OB/GYNs are more likely to face a malpractice lawsuit than other medical specialists.
From 2009 to 2014, paid medical malpractice claims decreased by 55%. However, although number of claims are down, the verdicts are significantly larger. A 2017 JAMA study found that the average malpractice payment has increased by 25% since the early 90s. Approximately 1 in 14 claims are awarded more than a million dollars.
Most medical malpractice stories are not as dramatic as those outlined above. However, if you feel that you or a loved one has suffered injury or harm die to a medical practitioner’s negligence, you should investigate to see if you deserve compensation. Call the Sarasota and Tampa attorneys at Probinsky & Cole, and let’s discuss how to begin.
