OVERVIEW

Medical malpractice is the failure of a doctor or other medical professional to provide the expected standard of care resulting in the injury or death of a patient. The human cost of medical errors is high. According to the National Institute of Medicine, there are as many as 90,000 deaths each year as a result of medical errors – more than from car accidents, breast cancer or AIDS. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control estimate that 2 million patients develop hospital-acquired infections in the U.S. each year with 90,000 dying from those infections.

Rather than changing the healthcare system, the insurance industry and healthcare administrators instead choose to lobby state legislatures and Congress to protect them from being held accountable for their wrongful conduct.

• A former businessman was enjoying retirement with his wife in a seaside Florida golfing community. During a regular visit to his primary care doctor, a standard PSA test was performed to measure the level of prostate-specific antigen in the blood – a warning sign of prostate cancer. The test revealed a PSA level of 23.4 compared to a normal level of 4.0 or less. His doctor prescribed antibiotics and the PSA level went down slightly, but 15 months later, it still was abnormally high. The doctor then ordered CBC (complete blood count) testing on four separate occasions over a two-year period; however the orders never included a PSA test. When a test finally was performed three years after his last abnormally high result, the man’s PSA level was an alarming 92.7. At this point, the man was referred to an urologist who diagnosed surgically untreatable advanced prostate cancer. Represented by William Ruffier, the man sued his primary care physician. He is unable to play golf or participate in activities due to the physical strain of his cancer. The case was settled for $600,000 due to the caps on non-economic damages.
  
  
• This client retained DWKM&R to handle his auto accident claim. However, during the course of our investigation, a medical consultant reviewing his MRI scans found that a previous radiologist had twice overlooked a large pituitary adenoma. What made the mistake extraordinary was that the radiologist knew the man was operated on years earlier to remove a prior pituitary adenoma. Surgery to remove this recurrent adenoma was much more complicated because it had grown significantly in the two years it was not diagnosed. As a result of this complication, the client suffered profound brain damage. In 2005, he died from medical complications. Liability in this case was clear. An expert neuroradiologist called it one of the most egregious cases of malpractice he had ever seen. Based on the catastrophic economic and non economic damages this client and his wife suffered as a direct result of radiologist’s medical malpractice, Kenneth McKenna and Robert Dellecker negotiated a settlement of just under the radiologist’s insurance limits of $1 million.
  
  
• DWKM&R handled a medical malpractice case against an Orlando area hospital involving in the birth of a baby that resulted in serious neurological injury from a medication overdose. The hospital, its lawyers and insurers tried to avoid responsibility under Florida's NICA laws that would have limited the baby and his parents to meager state subsidized benefits. Instead, DWKM&R negotiated full and fair compensation from the actual wrongdoer - the hospital, not taxpayers - that will provide for the child during his lifetime. The settlement amount was $2.5 million.
  
  
• DWKM&R negotiated a significant settlement from two radiologists and an internist who repeatedly failed to diagnose a patient's spinal infection. As a result of this medical malpractice the patient's vertebrae collapsed, causing pain and partial paraplegia. The negotiations were complicated by the fact that one of the physicians was uninsured.
  
  
• In a medical malpractice case against one of Orlando’s largest hospitals and its emergency room physicians and surgeons, DWKM&R represented a longtime hospital employee who was near death from a serious post-operative infection. After sitting in the emergency room for hours without proper care and attention, the patient was discharged with a diagnosis of "gas" because the hospital's nurses, surgeons and emergency physicians failed to communicate with each other. The patient later became septic and was rushed back to the hospital for life saving surgery to repair a perforated bowel. This medical malpractice case should remind everyone that medical mistakes and poor care can be happen to anyone, even professionals in the health care field.
  
  
• DWKM&R settled a significant case against two pharmacists who by accident dispensed DILACOR XR 240mg. instead of DILATRATE 40mg. While both drugs are used to lower blood pressure, the patient was given six times the prescribed dosage causing her blood pressure dropped to near fatal levels
  
  
• A 47-year-old Orlando man went to the emergency room suffering weakness on the right side of his face. He underwent two brain scans that were reviewed by two different radiologists. Surgery was performed to restore blood flow to the brain. During or shortly after surgery, the man suffered a stroke. Negligence by the radiologists and the surgeon left the man permanently disabled and facing enormous bills for his hospitalization, medical and nursing care. This tragic outcome could have been prevented with appropriate medical care. DWKM&R represented the man and his wife, negotiating a settlement with the doctors and hospital that compensated the man for his medical bills, lost wages, future medical expenses and pain and suffering.