Medical Malpractice: Failure to Diagnose

A college student and her family are suing Ohio University for medical negligence because she went to the health center three times in 12 hours and they failed to properly diagnose her condition. She was suffering from necrotizing fasciitis but was diagnosed with throat inflammation and muscle strain.

Necrotizing fasciitis is a flesh-eating disease caused by flesh-eating bacteria like MRSA.


Later that day, her parents took her to an Athens hospital and she was transferred to a Columbus hospital where she underwent surgery. The lawsuit claims that a proper diagnosis may have averted the need to amputate her right arm and shoulder.

Medical Malpractice Insurance Co. Not Paying

Imagine if you came up against a malpractice insurance company that said it couldn't cover its damages! This is precisely what is happening to the hapless people that have suffered due to the hand of a certain Dr. Stark. These people didn't just suffer physical trauma - they lost their loved ones because of Dr. Stark's illegal practices. And now, they could be left with nothing.

Dr. Stark gained notoriety when it was found that five of his patients had died. The reason points right back at the doctor, who illegally prescribed painkillers to a number of patients. Reports say that he may have doled out these drugs to as many as 80 people every day. He has been charged with eighteen counts, including conspiracy and distributing drugs outside the bounds of medical practice resulting in death. And now, the medical malpractice insurance company says it can't pay the damages.

This is incredibly difficult, particularly for the families of Thaison Roark and Brandon Scott. Both men died at the hands of Dr. Stark and hadn't even reached 35 years of age, with Roark only being 20 when he passed away. Now their families are being denied their damages because the medical malpractice insurance company says it doesn't provide for acts that are in violation of the law. This is in spite of the fact that a former employee of Stack has not only pleaded guilty to conspiracy, but has also agreed to testify against Stack!

Unfortunately, this looks like yet another case of the patients losing twice over.

Hospital CEOs and Hospital Care

Hospitals. The best thing you can do is avoid them if possible. Once thought to be the beacon of goodness and kind deads -- now are frequently fraught with rampant infection, a lack of competent staff or understaffed, and managed by CEOs that put profits over people and care.

Read the article, "10 Things Hospital CEOs Don't Want you to Know", nod your head, and find a lawyer if medical malpractice has happened to you or a family member. You are not alone in this regard.

Real Crimes against the living and the dead

On June 27, 2008 a Brooklyn judge sentenced Michael Mastromarino to 18-54 years in jail. Mr. Mastromarino is the oral surgeon who founded Biomedical Tissue services in New Jersey. Biomedical Tissue Services was a tissue bank that collected bone, tissue and tendons for use in medical procedures.

Before the June 27, 2008 sentencing Mr. Mastromarino had pled guilty to conducting a multimillion dollar scheme to steal hundreds of corpses and sell the bone and tissue from the corpses for use in dental transplants, knee and hip replacements and other medical procedures.
Mr. Mastromarino’s actions were appalling to everyone involved. Families of the deceased were devastated that their loved ones remains had been violated for profit. The corpses were used without permission and with complete disregard for proper medical screening.

Dental transplant and other surgical patients were horrified that tissue and bone from corpses had been implanted in their bodies. It is estimated that 10,000 people received bone or tissue from the corpses dug up by Mr. Mastromarino. Some claim to be infected with diseases from the bone or tissue used in their procedure.

Three people who worked with Mr. Mastromarino and numerous funeral home directors across Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York were also charged in the case. Two of those people who actually cut the bone and tissue from the corpses have been sentenced up to 20 and 9 - 27 years in prison, respectively.

For more information about Mr. Mastromarino’s 18-54 year sentence including his words to families of the deceased and a quote by one of the people who became sick after receiving the tainted bone.

The case was uncovered when the FDA saw serious violations in regulation compliance. For more information about the violations of Mr. Mastromarino and Biomedical Tissue Services and about the potential danger recipients of bone, tissue and tendon may be in, please visit this website.

PA Medical Malpractice and Shoulder Dystocia

Shoulder dystocia is a scary condition that creates a lot of mayhem and concern in the delivery room. In most cases, the emergency ends quickly and the child is examined by a pediatrician, cleaned up and provided to the very relieved parents to begin the bonding process. This is a joyful and happy time for parents.

However, if your child suffered from a birth complicated by shoulder dystocia then it is important that you watch your baby closely in the days following the birth and report any potential symptoms of Erb’s palsy to the child’s pediatrician.

What are the symptoms of Erb’s palsy? Is it medical malpractice?

If you notice one or more of the following symptoms you should inform your pediatrician, whether or not you know for certain that your child suffered from shoulder dystocia during birth. The symptoms include:

· Lack of movement in the arm or hand. Compare both arms and observe whether your child is spontaneously moving both arms and hands in approximately equal amounts.
· A weak hand grip. If your child’s grip with one hand is significantly stronger than his or her grip with the other hand then inform your child’s pediatrician.
· The lack of the Moro Reflex on one side. The Moro Reflex is a normal newborn reflex that is also known as the startle reflex. When a healthy newborn is experiencing the Moro Reflex his arms typically fling out from the body and then draw back in with bent elbows when the body relaxes.
· A different arm position than is seen on the unaffected side. Typically a newborn’s arm is bent at the elbow and held close to the body when the child is relaxed.

For additional information about the symptoms of Erb’s palsy and what can be done about the condition, please visit the University of Maryland Medical Center website.

Kugel Mesh Recall and Medical Malpractice

You might think that after the FDA recalls a medical product that you no longer have to worry about its possible effects on your health. Unfortunately, that is not always the case as some patients of Sentara Health Systems in Virginia have recently found out.

Since the Kugel Mesh Patch was originally recalled by the FDA on December 22, 2005, there have been repeated instances of its use.

As recently as June 5, 2008, NBC affiliate WAVY-TV 10 reported that the Kugel Mesh Patch had been used in recent hernia operations.

The Kugel Mesh Patch is a device manufactured by Davol, Inc. to be used during hernia surgeries. On December 22, 2005, Davol issued a voluntary recall of the product because of its reported problems with the memory recoil ring. The memory recoil ring was breaking and creating bowel and intestinal problems.

On March 24, 2006, two letters were sent to surgeons and hospitals. The first expanded the recall to include more types of Kugel Mesh Patches because of potential dangers and the other requested that use of certain types of Kugel Mesh Patches be stopped immediately. In January 2007, Davol expanded the recall yet again to include even more types of Kugel Mesh Patches.

Now, Sentara Health Systems admits that seven patients at two different hospitals received the recalled Kugel Mesh Patches long after the recall was made.

At least one of the seven patients is experiencing a breakdown of the Kugel Mesh Patch; a breakdown of the very kind for which the patch was recalled. She reports being in extreme pain and the hospital admits its error. However, medically the hospital is not optimistic about helping the patients who received the recalled patches. They claim that the mesh has already adhered to internal organs and an operation could be fatal.

How could this have happened?

Women, Heart Attacks, and Medical Malpractice

Heart attacks are equally dangerous for men and women. Yet, a woman is much less likely to be correctly diagnosed of having a heart attack than a man is to be correctly diagnosed of having a heart attack. Is this a form of misogyny or is there another more complicated reason that creates serious problems and even death for many women each year?

A recent study published in May 2008 found that women were significantly less likely than men to receive appropriate treatment. The study led by a team from the University of Michigan studied more than 25,000 men and women from 14 different countries between1999 to 2006. The study found that among people with the same level of coronary artery disease, women were significantly less likely than men to receive critical drugs. Women were also less likely to receive angioplasty or a stent than men were to receive such treatments.

Within six months of the initial heart attack, women were more likely than men to have died, had another heart attack, stroke, or other complication due to their heart disease. The study found that part of the reason for the disparate treatment between men and women is that women often describe different symptoms at the hospital when having a heart attack and doctors are not well trained in what those symptoms are and what they mean.

Cardiovascular disease is a serious and prevalent condition that inflicts about 459,000 women. Approximately 64,200 of those women suffer heart attacks. It is the responsibility of the medical community to learn how to accurately diagnose and treat women so they are entitled to the same health benefits as men and so that no more women die because of a doctor’s failure to accurately diagnose a heart attack and failure to provide appropriate treatment.