Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog

No one knew that the 18 year-old had a rare, genetic condition that cause a fatal reaction to the anesthesia when she decided to have plastic surgery and chose a surgeon to correct a congenital defect that left her with asymmetrical breasts and inverted nipples. Everything seemed very routine and nobody thought there would be risk involved. The condition that the family believes killed the 18 year-old is an extremely rare genetic disorder that causes a reaction to common types of anesthesia. The reaction is called malignant hyperthermia – it causes the patient’s temperature to spike to 110 degrees or higher. Salts precipitate out of the blood and organs collapse, leading to death.

More adequate care could have prevented this reaction because there is an antidote called Dantrolene that can reverse the effects of malignant hyperthermia. If administered in proper dosages in a timely fashion, the effects can be successfully reversed. However, according to the medical malpractice lawsuit attorney, the anesthesiologist administered only one dose when at least eight were required.

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Kanye West’s mother, Donda West, died after two cosmetic surgery procedures performed by a California doctor. While Kanye West and his family mourn the death of his mother, Donda West, a lot of attention is focusing on the reputation of Donda West’s doctor who performed the operation. The Medical Board of California is investigating whether the doctor’s license should be revoked or suspended. The doctor had been arrested twice in the last four years for alcohol-related offenses. Additionally, the doctor paid two former patients a total of $467,337 in two medical malpractice lawsuit settlements in 2001.

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A woman whose feet and fingers were amputated as the result of complications with her tummy-tuck surgery was awarded $30,000,000 by a jury in the personal injury lawsuit. The woman had the tummy-tuck to correct muscle damage due to three caesarean sections, and 20 days later blood and fluid began collecting in her wound, causing her extremities to turn blue. The emergency room “spent too little time treating [the woman] and left the hospital at one point to change his pants.” The hospital staff also failed to administer and analyze tests in a timely fashion. The woman’s feet and fingers were ultimately amputated as a result of medical malpractice and gross negligence.

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A hospital and attending anesthesiologists have recently settled a malpractice lawsuit regarding gross negligence during a face-lift procedure for $3.1 million dollars. A 56 year-old-woman died of cardiac failure caused by an overdose of local anesthetic. Alarms that monitored the woman’s blood oxygen “were turned down so that they were inaudible”. That same year, author Olivia Goldsmith died during cosmetic surgery at that hospital as a result of medical malpractice. Another woman suffered brain damage after a face-lift and settled for $7 million.

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