The family of a Boston woman who died after receiving an incorrect dosage of blood thinner has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Massachusetts General Hospital.

According to the lawsuit, filed last week in Boston, 76 year-old Geraldine Oswald was hospitalized in November at Massachusetts General Hospital for treatment of an infection that had developed after she broke her shoulder. However, in a tragic mix-up, hospital staff gave Oswald an incorrect dosage of a blood thinning drug, making it impossible for her blood to clot when she began to bleed internally. According to her death certificate, Oswald hemorrhaged for 12 hours in the hospital before she died.

Hospital officials later acknowledged the mistake and issued a statement which said: “As soon as we understood what had happened, we apologized, and explained the situation to Mrs. Oswald’s family. We undertook a thorough and extensive internal review of the case, and we communicated with the family members throughout this process. As a result of this event, we have made some specific changes to our practices to reduce the chance of such an event from occurring again.”

Andrew C. Meyer Jr., an attorney for the Oswald family, said he was hopeful that the hospital has instituted changes, but he has no evidence of it. “As the claim proceeds through the system, our goals will be to ensure that these changes, for the protection of patients, will be enacted and adhered to,” Meyer said. “[But] policy changes won’t bring Geraldine Oswald back home in time for Sunday dinner with her beloved family.”

If you need assistance with a similar medical malpractice lawsuit, please contact a Pennsylvania Incorrect Dosage Lawyer of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., by calling 610-667-7511.

A couple in California have filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against a Sacramento hospital and numerous employees after their daughter lost part of all four of her limbs due to a bacterial infection.

According to court documents, Ryan Jeffers and Leah Vang watched as their daughter Malyia became sicker as they waited for five hours in the emergency room of Methodist Hospital in November. Jeffers allegedly begged doctors and nurses in the emergency room to treat his daughter. Eventually he forced his way into another office and demanded help. By that point, the bacteria had ravaged more of Malyia’s body and she had to be flown to Stanford University’s Children’s Hospital.

Malyia had streptococcus A, and as a result of the widespread infection, both of her feet and her left hand was amputated. Part of her right hand was also removed. She is now in intensive rehabilitation therapy.

Jeffers and Vang filed the lawsuit in Sacramento Superior Court Monday. The couple name Catholic Healthcare West, Methodist Hospital, and five emergency room employees in the lawsuit. The filing claims the hospital “chose to negligently staff, operate, and supervise the emergency room” resulting in Malyia’s extensive surgeries.

If someone you love has been the victim of similar medical malpractice or hospital negligence, please contact the Pennsylvania Emergency Room Lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., by calling 610-667-7511.

Hospital safety has not improved in the last decade, according to a new report.

A study conducted from 2002 to 2007 in 10 North Carolina hospitals found that harm to patients was common and the number of incidents did not decrease over time. Published Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine, the study is the first large report on hospital safety in a decade.

The study is viewed as the most rigorous since a landmark report in 1999. That report, by the Institute of Medicine, found that medical mistakes caused as many as 98,000 deaths and more than one million injuries a year in the United States. The Institute of Medicine led a national movement to reduce errors and make hospital stays less hazardous after the study’s publication.

If you have been the victim of medical malpractice, please contact the Pennsylvania Medical Malpractice Lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., by calling 610-667-7511.

A medical malpractice lawsuit has been filed against a hospital in Washington after a 6 year-old boy was given a double dose of medication.

According to Destiny Brown, she took her son Jay to Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma, Washington after he became ill and began experiencing pains in his abdomen. Jay underwent an emergency appendectomy, but after the surgery his condition began to deteriorate. Reports indicate that Jay was administered a double dose of post-operative medication. Apparently a mis-communication between two nurses led them to administer Jay’s medication at two different times.

Destiny Brown explained the situation to reporters saying: “After surgery [Jay] was fine… And then later on that evening he couldn’t eat or stand up or walk or anything, and that’s when we realized something had gone wrong.

The hospital released a statement after incident reports made headlines, which read: “We are sorry that this error occurred, and we are looking closely into the circumstances and thoroughly evaluating our processes… and what additional safety measures need to be implemented to prevent this in the future.”

If someone you love has been the victim of hospital negligence, please contact a Pennsylvania Medical Malpractice Lawyer of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., by calling 610-667-7511.

A jury in Minneapolis returned a verdict $4.6 million verdict Friday in a medical malpractice lawsuit.

According Wright County court records, the family of 36 year-old Claudia Calgano, who died at New River Medical Center, formerly Monticello Big Lake Community, filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the hospital. The jury determined the damages to the family for their loss to be $4,623,924, the family’s attorney Kathleen Flynn Peterson said.

The family will receive more than $220,000 in past economic losses and $750,000 in past loss of advice, comfort, assistance, companionship, and protection that Calgano would have received if she was still alive.

The verdict includes an additional $1.4 million in future economic losses for the family and another $2.2 million in future loss of advice, comfort, assistance, companionship, and protection, according to court documents.

If you have lost a loved one due to medical malpractice or hospital negligence, you may be entitled to compensation. For more information, please contact the Pennsylvania hospital negligence attorneys of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., by calling 610-667-7511.

The Arkansas Court of Appeals has overturned a jury verdict in a medical malpractice lawsuit filed against a doctor who left a sponge inside a man after an operation.

According to court documents, Alan Sargent sued Dr. Marc Rogers in Garland County after Rogers operated and found a sponge he left inside Sargent during a gall bladder operation two years before. A trial was held to determine damages, after Circuit Court Judge John S. Patterson partially ruled in favor of Sargent. The jury awarded Sargent $100,000.

The Arkansas Court of Appeals, upon reviewing the suit, found that the jury should answer the question of whether leaving a sponge inside a patient constitutes a “deviance in the standard of care.”

The Appeals Court sent the case back to Garland County, Arkansas for a new trial.

If you have been the victim of Pennsylvania medical malpractice, please contact a Pennsylvania medical malpractice attorney of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., by calling 610-667-7511 today.

A jury in Indiana returned a $300,000 verdict in a medical malpractice lawsuit brought against a doctor.

According to court documents, a jury of six found Merrillville physician Mark Weinberger had mistreated, misdiagnosed, and needlessly operated on 58 year-old William Boyer, of Gary. It was the first civil case against Weinberger to go to trial since he was extradited from Italy last year. Attorney Barry Rooth, who represented Boyer, said his law firm has almost 300 more plaintiff cases lined up against Weinberger. “We have 287 more to go, you can do the math,” Rooth said.

The jury found that the 46 year-old doctor, known as the “nose doc”, persuaded Boyer to have unnecessary surgery by telling him photos of bloody sinuses were his, when in fact they were another patient’s. Weinberger also did not tell Boyer that he detected an irregular heart beat during pre-operative tests.

Weinberger is also facing 22 counts of health care fraud perpetuated against insurance companies.

If you have been injured due to medical malpractice or hospital negligence, please contact a Pennsylvania medical malpractice lawyer of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., by calling 610-667-7511 today.

The family of a woman who died after undergoing plastic surgery was awarded a $1.95 million verdict Thursday in Virginia.

According to the lawsuit, 36 year-old Maritess Lopez received a “breast lift and augmentation, liposuction, and a tummy tuck” on July 30, 2008. The lawsuit alleges that Dr. Matthew Balumbeck allowed Lopez to leave the surgical center an hour after her operation despite the fact that she was having trouble breathing. Lopez soon began to experience “dizziness, fever, and problems moving,” according to the suit.

Lopez’s sister, Carmelita Hale, reportedly called Galumbeck’s office and spoke with a nurse about Lopez’s condition. The surgical center, however, allegedly made no attempt to follow up. Lopez died the following day.

The family was awarded the maximum compensation allowable under Virginia law. Defense attorneys indicated a motion to set aside the verdict would be filed.

If you or someone you love has been injured due to medical malpractice or hospital negligence, please contact a Pennsylvania medical malpractice lawyer of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., by calling 610-667-7511 today.

A couple in West Virginia are suing a Charleston Hospital for negligence and medical malpractice after, they claim, her cancer was not completely treated by agents of the facility.

According to court documents filed June 24 in Kanawha Circuit Court, Lisa morris was diagnosed with cancer in her left breast by breast biopsy May 25, 2007. Morris claims the Charleston Area Medical Center failed to provide her with proper and timely follow up care following her lumpectomy on June 14, 2007, in which cancerous tissue was left inside her.

The lawsuit contends hospital staff did not provide Morris with further treatment for approximately four months and did not provide chemotherapy or radiation treatments. Morris claims the defendants acted “negligently, carelessly, willfully, and wantonly or with reckless disregard of her risk or harm.”

If you or someone you love has been injured due to medical malpractice, please contact the Pennsylvania medical malpractice attorneys of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., by calling 610-667-7511 today.

A Staten Island jury has awarded $510,000 to the parents of a 4 year-old New Brighton who suffered brain injuries because he was deprived of oxygen at birth.

The medical malpractice lawsuit was filed on behalf of Xzavier Hyman against Staten Island University Hospital and Dr. Paul Heitzer. Hyman suffers speech and fine motor skills deficiencies as a result of oxygen deprivation during birth. The jury determined that a Caesarean operation should have been performed several hours before Ms. Spicer gave vaginal birth. Doctors testified that Hyman suffered brain damage in the uterus during that time.

Spicer, 26, said she was happy with the jury’s decision. “I believe it was an awesome verdict and justice was served,” Spicer said. “I also feel the award is not enough, I know he’ll have the lesions on his brain for the rest of his life.”

If you or someone you love has been injured due to medical malpractice, please contact the Pennsylvania medical malpractice lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., by calling 610-667-7511 today