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$21.9 M award in elective steroid injection procedure

A 54-year-old woman suffered from chronic and severe back pain, and she underwent an elective epidural steroid injection. While sedated, the patient’s airway became blocked, which resulted in oxygen deprivation for as long as 10 minutes. Multiple electronic monitors indicated that the patient was not breathing properly, but the physician continued the procedure. Emergency assistance was not called for more than an hour, and the physician failed to report to a subsequent treating hospital that the patient was deprived of oxygen for several minutes. The patient suffered severe brain damage, and she died six years after the procedure from complications related to the brain injury. The jury awarded the widower and estate $21.9 million in damages.

Failure to diagnose infection causes toddler death and yields verdict of $1.72 million

Plaintiffs’ 3-month-old daughter was taken to the hospital with a high fever and elevated pulse rate. The ED physician diagnosed an ear infection and discharged the infant with a prescription for antibiotics. Days later she was diagnosed with pneumococcal meningitis, hypoxic brain injury, and hydrocephalus. She lived for 20 more months. Plaintiffs sued the hospital and the ED physician, and they won a verdict of joint and several liability for $1.7 million.

Proper review and plan of care documentation can be your best defense

Are you familiar with the documentation requirements for your department? Do you have an obligation to review and sign off on residents’ notes? Does the documentation in the record reflect your plan of care? If you never reviewed, how do you know? Unfortunately, in one recent case where the medical care could be explained, the matter was settled due to insufficient documentation — which a good plaintiff attorney can characterize as sloppy and inattentive care.

Failure to treat bacterial infection from routine injection results in $2.3M verdict

Physicians and healthcare providers must recognize that HAIs are common, and when they are treating a patient who recently has received healthcare services or undergone a procedure involving an injection, extra precautions should be taken to rule out the possibility of an infection.

Jury awards verdict of $5.2 million after diagnosis error and above-the-knee amputation

‘High-low’ agreement reduces verdict to $1.5 million

Manual helps to improve medication reconciliation

Unintentional medication discrepancies during transitions in care pose a major threat to patient safety, with up to 67% of inpatients having at least one unexplained discrepancy in their prescription medication history at the time of admission, according to the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) in Philadelphia.

Malpractice suit filed in Joan Rivers’ death

Melissa Rivers filed a malpractice lawsuit recently against doctors and the clinic where her mother, Joan Rivers, died after a routine medical procedure.

Settlement for misdiagnosing first U.S. Ebola patient

Texas Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas announced recently that it has settled with the family of Thomas Eric Duncan, the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States.

Experts advise compliance not same as security

The data breach at Anthem holds important lessons for risk managers, say four cyber security experts consulted by Healthcare Risk Management.

Anthem breach traced to admin’s stolen login

The data breach at Anthem, one of the country’s most prominent health insurers, is thought to be the largest healthcare data breach in history by a wide margin. The insurer is reporting that the breach affecting 80 million people was traced to the theft of an administrator’s login key and password.