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Special Edition Legal Case Study
Nursing Professionals and Medical Malpractice: A Case Study with Risk Management Strategies
Medical malpractice claims can be asserted against any healthcare provider. Although there may be a perception that physicians are held responsible for the majority of lawsuits, the reality is that nursing professionals are more frequently finding themselves defending the care they provide.
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Case Study: Medication Administration Error and Failure to Monitor A 23-year-old woman with no significant medical history presented to the emergency room with flu-like symptoms. She complained of generalized body ache and had a fever of 102.6. For the past two weeks, she self administered over-the- counter medications with no relief. Instead, her condition deteriorated and she developed both shortness of breath and a cough. Her worsening symptoms motivated her to seek care a local emergency room... Read the Full Case with Risk Management Recommendations |
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Case Study: Failure to Assess Resident and Failure to Inform the Physician of Resident’s Unstable Condition This case involves the treatment and subsequent death of a 78-year-old female resident of a nursing home. She had a number of medical conditions including hypertension, chronic anemia, chronic renal failure, congestive heart failure and morbid obesity. She was prescribed the anti-coagulant drug Coumadin because of atrial fibrillation and the related risk of blood clot formation... Read the Full Case with Risk Management Recommendations |
September 2008 Legal Case Study |
| Failure to Refer to Specialist for Continuing Complaints Relative to Nose and Sinuses - Sino-Nasal Cancer Leads to Death of Teenager - $1.5 Million Settlement. |
The plaintiff’s decedent, age nineteen, went to the defendant family practice physician and nurse practitioner beginning in February 2000 with complaints related to her nose and sinuses. The defendants maintained that the symptoms were consistent with allergies. The decedent was prescribed Amoxicillin at her first presentation. A second course of antibiotics was prescribed ten days later. In August 2000 the decedent complained of nosebleeds and was diagnosed with sinusitis with nosebleeds. The teenager had begun complaining of persistent daily frontal headaches, loss of sense of smell, difficulty breathing and frequent nosebleeds, but the medical records did not document these symptoms. In September 2000 the decedent was seen by the nurse practitioner who diagnosed allergic rhinitis and prescribed Allegra and saline nasal spray. The decedent was seen by the nurse again in October and November, at which point the decedent had an enlarged lymph node. In March 2001 the decedent saw a covering doctor and noted that her right nostril was blocked. The covering physician asked her to see her regular physician, at which time she was referred to an ENT. At that visit the diagnosis of a mass was immediately made. In April 2001 the decedent underwent endoscopic surgery. An MRI in May showed the tumor to extend intracranially. The decedent subsequently underwent craniofacial resection and postoperative radiation therapy. Despite aggressive treatment the cancer recurred and she died in December 2001. The plaintiffs claimed that the decedent should have been referred to a specialist at least seven months before her diagnosis. The defendants claimed that the decedent had generalized complaints consistent with allergic rhinitis and that sinonasal cancers were rare. The defendant also claimed that the specific tumor type was notoriously aggressive and that a seven-month delay would not have changed the outcome. According to a published account a $1.5 million settlement was reached. |
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Recently Posted Legal Case Studies
| DESCRIPTION | |
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| Internal Medtronic Pump for Pain Control Not Properly Serviced by Home Health Nurse, Leading to Overdose of Plaintiff - Plaintiff Has Short Hospitalization - Confidential Settlements With Some - $6,000 Verdict Against Home Care Defendant. | |
| Overdose of Pain Medication Administered Through Implanted Pump - Death - $1 Million Verdict. | |
| Failure to Properly Treat and Monitor Infant With Respiratory Problems - Death - $1.2 Million Verdict | |
| Failure to Timely and Properly Triage Woman With Gunshot Wound to Head - She Didn’t Seem Emergent Because She Walked Into Emergency Room - Bleeding, Swelling, Mid-Brain Herniation - Vegetative State - $12 Million Verdict. | |
| Failure to Provide Pneumococcal Vaccine for Woman Without Spleen - Pneumococcal Infection With Extended Recovery - $3 Million Settlement. | |
| Failure to Timely Evaluate and Treat Teenager’s Abdominal and Groin Pain - Boy Had History of Torsion - Loss of Testicle - $200,000 Settlement. | |
| Nurses Fail to Inform Surgeon of Pain and Numbness Following Laminectomy - When Epidural Hematoma is Diagnosed Hospital Fails to Provide Operating Room Emergently - Elderly Woman Rendered Paraplegic - $1.8 Million Verdict. | |
| Nurse Administers Part of Epinephrine Intravenously Instead of the Ordered Subcutaneous Delivery - Woman Kept Overnight for Observation - Claims Heart Damage - Defendant Claims All Tests Were Normal - Defense Verdict. | |
| Man Gets Out of Bed Alone After Nurse Fails to Respond to Request for Assistance to Bathroom - Fall When Bed Moves as He Returns to Bed - Fractured Hip With Decline and Death - $125,000 Settlement. | |
| Failure to Treat Lack of Blood Flow in Leg and Foot Following Trauma to Leg - Amputation Above Knee Ultimately Required - $2 Million Settlement. | |
| Woman Falls and Fractures Hip After Waist Restraint is Removed - Plaintiff Claims Nurses Removed It - Defendant Claims Plaintiff Removed It - $127,188 Verdict. | |
| Failure to Properly Respond to Fetal Distress During Labor - Emergency Cesarean Section Ultimately Performed, but Baby Dies - $325,000 Settlement. |
