A Florida man has filed a $30 million medical malpractice lawsuit against the Miami Veterans’ Administration.

According to court documents, more than 11,000 U.S. veterans received colonoscopies with improperly cleaned equipment at VA hospitals in Miami, Murfreesboro, Tenn., and Augsusta, Ga., between 2004 and 2009. In what could be the first of many similar trials, 69 year-old U.S. Air Force veteran Robert Metzler’s medical malpractice lawsuit heads to Miami Federal Court on Monday.

According to the lawsuit, Metzler received a colonoscopy at the Miami VA hospital in 2007 and two years later was told he has hepatitis C. Of the 11,000 veterans to receive colonoscopies with the tainted equipment, five have tested positive for HIV, 25 for hepatitis C, and eight for hepatitis B.

Metzler’s medical malpractice lawsuit is seeking $20 million for him and $10 million for his wife, Lucy Ann, for loss of consortium.

Miami Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence Rosen, who is defending the Veterans’ Administration, acknowledged the VA “breached” a “duty of reasonable care” by using improperly cleaned equipment, but deny the equipment caused the health problems.

If you need assistance with a similar medical malpractice lawsuit, please contact the Pennsylvania Hospital Negligence Lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., by calling 610-667-7511.

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 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.