Doctors in many places are treated as god. The medical ability to save a person creates faith in people, but sometimes doctors have to pay heavily for their mistakes. Here are some cases that turned the tables for the patients where doctors caught practicing wrongly.
After reading the article, you might raise question like, Which doctors are sued more?, Which type of cases are sued most?, What are the major mistakes doctors do? So we have attached some related facts and data with the cases.
A man who underwent a colonoscopy filed a lawsuit against the clinic and the physicians, claiming that his phone recorded the staff mocking him the second he went under, making fun of his penis, joking that he had syphilis, and talking about firing a gun up his rectum.
Doctors mocked an unconscious colonoscopy patient, joking that he has syphilis and talking about firing a gun up his rectum, says a man whose cellphone allegedly captured audio of the entire affair. Plaintiff D.B. sued Safe Sedation LLC and Safe Sedation Management in Fairfax County Court, alleging defamation and infliction of emotional distress. He seeks $1 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages for defamation, infliction of emotional distress and illegally disclosing his health records. (source)
In 2003 a teen with cancer died because his Naturopathic Doctor assured his parents he will cure his cancer with photoluminescence: taking a vial of blood from him, exposing it to ultraviolet light from a device, injecting the treated blood back in a hydrogen-peroxide solution. He died 9 days later.
David and Laura Flanagan of suburban Denver believed they found that, and more, in the office of Dr. Brian O’Connell. O’Connell assured the Flanagans he could not only relieve 18-year-old Sean’s suffering from late-stage bone cancer, he could cure Sean as he had others.
Two days after Sean’s treatment by O’Connell began, the young man was rushed to the hospital with an infection caused by the injection. Six days after that, as O’Connell administered another round of treatment, Sean begged, “Please, God, no more.” The next day, Dec. 19, 2003, Sean died — about six months sooner than his medical doctors had predicted.
It wasn’t until months later — when they saw him on television, being led away in handcuffs — that they discovered they had been cruelly duped. O’Connell, 35 at the time, had been arrested for practicing medicine without a license. After the Flanagans told law-enforcement officials Sean’s story, criminally negligent homicide was added to the charges. O’Connell was convicted and sentenced to 13 years in prison.(source)
Widower wins $3.8M in liposuction-death case against Eagle doctor
Charles Ballard sued Silk Touch Laser and its owner, anesthesiologist Brian Kerr, for wrongful death and medical malpractice. Krystal Ballard went through a liposection and fat-transfer procedure at the med spa in Eagle in 2010. She died less than a week later from septic shock caused by bacteria in her right buttock.
Charles Ballard sued, alleging the bacteria that killed his wife entered her body during the procedure. He argued that reusable medical equipment used on her was not properly disinfected and sterilized. The Idaho Supreme Court says an Eagle doctor and his “med spa” must pay $3.8 million in a lawsuit brought by a man whose wife died after undergoing liposuction.(source)
Woman awarded more than $2.8 million in a malpractice suit against Lancaster doctor.
Theresa L. White-Lightner, of Clifftown Township, filed suit after receiving a left hip replacement surgery performed by Dr. Seth D. Baublitz in April 2014.
According to the civil complaint, Baublitz improperly placed two bone screws that caused “harmful contact between one or both of those screws and Ms. White-Lightner’s left sciatic nerve.”
“To our understanding, it is the largest medical malpractice verdict (in Lancaster County),” White-Lightner’s attorney Joseph Roda said. The Lancaster County jury awarded a Susquehanna County woman more than $2.8 million last week as the result of a medical malpractice lawsuit against a local orthopedic surgeon and the practice he works for.(source)
Jury awards siblings $1.75M in malpractice lawsuit with UCLA doctors
Ryan and Jessica Larkin sued the Regents of the University of California in December 2014 for the death of their 44-year-old mother, Deborah Larkin.
The plaintiff’s attorneys alleged Larkin’s doctors failed to diagnose and treat a stomach perforation during a hiatal hernia repair surgery in November 2013. Larkin’s condition did not improve over the next month and she died Dec. 27, 2013, according to the court papers.
Los Angeles Superior Court jury awarded $1.75 million on July 15 to two siblings who alleged UCLA doctors committed medical malpractice that resulted in the death of their mother.(source)
Doctor, hospital sued after 15 years for a botched surgery.
Bharathi Rajaa, a hospital in T-Nagar, Chennai, India and a doctor who worked there, Dr. Nagappan reportedly got into a bit of a fix recently for a surgery that took place 15 years ago. Dr. Nagappan had reportedly performed a hip-replacement surgery on David Tyagaraj, a lawyer. The surgery went wrong and he filed a case with the consumer court who ordered the doctor and hospital to cough up a sum of Rs 8.38 lakh($ 12,892) to the victim of the botched surgery.
The Hip surgery was conducted by a doctor who had no knowledge of the procedure, treatment despite the hospital not having CT scan facilities, used substandard metal plate and delayed in treatment.(source)
Randwick rugby club doctor sued over misdiagnosis that left a man in a coma
Randwick rugby club’s doctor is being sued for hundreds of thousands of dollars by a patient who will suffer lifelong disabilities after he was misdiagnosed as having a panic attack when he was in fact having a major heart attack.(source)
A Michigan woman who was told she was unable to conceive is suing her doctor for wrongful conception.
In 2008, the now-50-year-old claims she went to undergo a permanent birth control procedure, but her doctor told her that her fallopian tubes were blocked and she had no chance of becoming pregnant. In fact, Cichewicz claims, the doctor told her she didn’t even need to use birth control. But just three years later, she became pregnant.
In April 2011, she gave birth her daughter, Reagan, who has Down syndrome. She told WXYZ that once she found out she was pregnant, there was never a question of whether she would give birth to her special needs child. The lawsuit seeks to keep Cichewicz’s doctor accountable for his alleged misguidance.(source)
Southeast Idaho doctor sued for allegedly using counterfeit breast implants, injecting counterfeit Botox
Former patients of an Idaho physician have alleged that he injected them with counterfeit Botox and placed counterfeit breast implants in them imported from China.
Temp Patterson, MD, an ear, nose and throat specialist in Burley, Idaho, is being sued in federal court by four former patients he treated at his now-shuttered cosmetic surgery business.
“When these women discovered Dr. Patterson secretly swapped out genuine Botox and breast implants for counterfeit items manufactured in China without their knowledge or consent, they all felt betrayed,” said Richard Hearn, MD, of the law firm of Hearn and Wood.(source)
A German biologist who claimed measles is psychosomatic, offered 100,000 Euros($ 106,000) to anyone who proved measles is a virus. A German doctor presented evidence of the virus; the biologist dismissed the evidence, but the local court ordered him to pay up. (Not a Malpractice, but proves Lack of Knowledge)
Stefan Lanka, who believes the illness is psychosomatic, made the pledge five years ago on his website. The reward was later claimed by German doctor David Barden, who gathered evidence from various medical studies. Mr Lanka dismissed the findings. But the court in the town of Ravensburg ruled that the proof was sufficient.
The World Health Organization said it was “taken aback” by the 22,000 cases reported across Europe since 2014, calling for an increase in vaccinations.
Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease characterised by a high fever, a rash and generally feeling unwell. The most severe cases can be fatal.(source)
