wrongful death

New U.S. Maternal Death Rate Numbers Released

Published on: February 4, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

New CDC Report Shows U.S. Maternal Death Rate is Still Terrible

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Vital Statistics System, for the first time in more than a decade, has released a new estimate of the maternal death rate in the U.S., and the numbers aren’t good. After a plea from medical researchers and women’s advocate groups surged in 2016 regarding huge problems with how maternal deaths were being inaccurately reported or not reported, the new data published on January 30, 2020, shows that the U.S. maternal mortality rate was 17.4 maternal deaths per 100,000 live birth in 2018.

According to the report, in 2018:

Delayed Treatment Led To Deadly ER Visit

Published on: January 29, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

Wisconsin Woman Died Soon After Leaving Emergency Room

A daycare teacher who was waiting to be seen in a Milwaukee hospital emergency room passed away just a few hours after she decided to leave and try an urgent care facility instead. News reports distributed by CNN on January 17, 2020 say she sought emergency medical care at Froedtert Hospital after experiencing chest pains and shortness of breath.

According to the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner report, after waiting more than two hours, the 25-year-old left and went to seek help at an urgent care. She then collapsed as she arrived at the facility parking lot, and was pronounced dead not long after.

$8.1M Awarded To Family Who Lost Mom To Cancer

Published on: January 16, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

Woman’s Estate Wins $8.1 Million For Failed Cancer Diagnosis and Wrongful Death, Represented by Levin & Perconti

In 2016, Levin & Perconti attorneys John J. Perconti, Michael F. Bonamarte IV and Daniel A. Goldfaden filed a lawsuit on behalf of the estate of a woman who should have been diagnosed with cancer when she was first X-rayed in 2013. It wasn’t until doctors at another hospital diagnosed her with stage 3 lung cancer in October 2014 that her illness was known. The delayed diagnosis caused Althea Wright’s disease to progress and go untreated. Sadly, she later died in 2015 at the age of 68. The suit was filed on behalf of Wright’s two children.

During a week-long trial in December 2019, a Cook County jury determined the estate of the deceased radiologist, Palmer Jane Blakley, MD, and the corporation tied to her closed practice must pay $8.125 million to remedy the missed cancer diagnosis. Blakley reviewed Wright’s scans, which showed a “rounded density” in her left lung, but she did not identify the mass or note any abnormality in Wright’s chart.

A Deadly Breathing Tube Mistake Hospitals Make

Published on: September 11, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

breathing tubes

Breathing Tube Removal Mistakes Can Be Deadly for Hospital Patients

During sedation or illness, many hospital patients may require breathing assistance through intubation. The device used in this procedure is called an endotracheal tube (ET) which is placed through a patient’s mouth and then into the airway so that a breath can be delivered when used with a ventilator. The sensitive intervention can be especially necessary for patients with respiratory failure in both hospital intensive care units (ICU) and pediatric intensive care units (PICU).

Unplanned extubation (UE) is the uncontrolled and dangerous removal of this life-sustaining breathing tube. Sometimes the removal is self-induced by a patient, but healthcare providers also make deadly mistakes during the repair of a tube, suctioning, weighing, or replacing a ventilator circuit. Sadly, UE is a complication that occurs in more than 121,000 adult patients every year in the U.S. and kills 33,000 American adults, as noted in a recent article published in MedPage Today, authored by Art Kanowitz, MD, FACEP.

Wrongdoers Left Unaccountable In Secret Neil Armstrong Settlement

Published on: August 27, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

medical malpractice

Neil Armstrong’s Secret “Hush” Money Settlement as Reported by The New York Times

Five years ago, at Mercy Health – Fairfield, a community hospital located in Cincinnati, retired American astronaut Neil Armstrong underwent a heart surgery with a fatal outcome. On July 23, 2019, around the same time media outlets celebrated the American astronaut’s 50th-anniversary moon walk, The New York Times published a story stating that after Mr. Armstrong died, his family threatened legal action against the hospital believing medical negligence was the cause. Armstrong’s two sons pointed blame at incompetent post-surgical care for taking their father’s life. The medical dispute was followed by a 2014 secret settlement – worth millions.

Legal documents (some now publicly available), along with a pleading personal note from the anonymous sender, was sent anonymously to The New York Times in 2019. The paperwork showed the hospital privately paid the Armstrong family $6 million to settle the family’s dispute over his cause of death and avoid the public shaming of the hospital’s wrongdoing. Several medical reports and analysis of when and how any medical mistakes impacted Mr. Armstrong’s death were also discovered, in which hospital officials used the pseudonym “Ned Anderson” for Mr. Armstrong after being fearful of any publicity surrounding his wrongful death.

Most Sepsis Cases Occur In Hospitals

Published on: July 10, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

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Information About Sepsis Dangers and Sepsis-Associated Deaths in Hospital Settings

When a person’s immune system becomes compromised, the body can respond in deadly ways, such as septicemia, a lethal condition more commonly known as – sepsis. A 2019 Critical Care Medicine investigative report confirmed that sepsis is highly present in hospitals and that it contributes significantly to patient deaths, some preventable. About one-third of people who develop sepsis will die from it, and as many as 65 percent of those people were being treated for another issue in a hospital setting at the time of their sepsis diagnosis.

Sepsis occurs when a person develops a bacterial infection in their bloodstream. It can happen to any patient, at any age. For those who survive, many will be left in a life-altering state and battle conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), chronic pain and fatigue, organ dysfunction, brain and heart conditions, and disabling amputations. Family members and caregivers may also become exhausted and depressed due to the difficult recovery and therapies their loved one now requires.

U.S. Women Are Being Mistreated While In Labor

Published on: July 2, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

birth injury lawyers

New Survey Shows Women Deserve Better Treatment While in Labor

After the review of a recent survey of American women, Giving Voice to Mothers (GVtM), conducted by both clinicians and researchers using World Health Organization frameworks, it is now known that one out of six women surveyed reported being mistreated while in labor.

Examples of their mistreatment included:

Negligence Caused Wrong Man To Be Taken Off Life Support

Published on: June 20, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

medical malpractice lawsuit

Hospitalized Man’s Life Support Decision Made by the Wrong Family

On May 13, 2019, a social worker from Mercy Hospital was busy making calls and seeking relatives of a patient identified by Chicago police as Alfonso Bennet. The man had been hospitalized in the ICU after being severely beaten. He required a ventilator to breathe and was nearly unrecognizable to his supposed sisters, who soon came to visit and make critical medical decisions on his behalf, such as removing him from life support.

Soon after family members permitted doctors to perform a tracheotomy, the man did pass away, and his alleged sisters made funeral arrangements. It was then that the real Alfonso Bennet was found still alive and the now deceased man identified by police became a mystery.

4 Types of Pregnancy-Related Hypertension Disorders

Published on: May 31, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

Blood Pressure Disorders in Pregnant and Postpartum Women Should Be Detected and Treated

Emerging data by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention Maternal Mortality Study Group continues to prove that too many mothers are dying or suffering from preventative or treatable pregnancy complications. Specifically, disorders related to hypertension (high blood pressure) in pregnancy and postpartum timeframes remain common and a leading cause of maternal mortality and infant morbidity worldwide.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has identified four major types of hypertensive pregnancy disorders, which can range from less to more severe, and typically occur after 20 weeks gestation.

Pregnancy-Related Deaths In The U.S. Are Not Being Prevented

Published on: May 23, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

medical malpractice

Terrifying Conclusions Stem from U.S. Maternal Mortality Reports & Investigations

Expecting moms are now 50 percent more likely to die in childbirth than their own mothers, according to Harvard Medical School. This staggering realization was proven by more than 50,000 cases of women who have suffered severe complications from childbirth and pregnancy-related illnesses or under-treated diseases and the 700+ more who are dying each year from them, a majority of deaths experts now say could have been avoided. These numbers rank the U.S. as the most dangerous place to give birth in the developed world, positioning health care providers to blame for their failures and carelessness in keeping mothers and babies safe during pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum stages.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Boston University researchers, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the U.S. Public Health Service recently released an outpour of data showing just how scary it is for American women to experience childbirth today. Here is a closer look at three recent reports to show the desperate need for a drastically different approach in providing better care to women before and beyond their pregnancies.