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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 |
October 2009 Legal Case Study |
| Failure to Properly Respond to Fetal Distress During Labor - Emergency Cesarean Section Ultimately Performed, but Baby Dies - $325,000 Settlement. |
The plaintiff mother had a history of meth use and was admitted to labor and delivery in April 2006 for cervical ripening and induction of labor. The labor was augmented with Pitocin. The mother developed an over-frequent contraction pattern and the long term beat-to-beat variability of the fetal heart decreased. Late decelerations were also recorded on the fetal monitor. The nurses intervened more than five hours after the first signs of fetal distress, but this did not include reducing the rate of Pitocin infusion. When the Pitocin was finally stopped the fetal monitor recorded a prolonged deceleration and a contraction which lasted for more than five minutes. The family practice doctor was contacted, but chose to have the mother and baby rechecked an hour later. The baby was delivered by emergency cesarean section two and one-half hours after the defendant doctor ordered the recheck. The newborn required extensive resuscitation. She was diagnosed with severe perinatal depression and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. She did not survive, however. According to a published account a $325,000 settlement was reached. With permission from Medical Malpractice Verdicts, Settlements & Experts; Lewis Laska, Editor, 901 Church St., Nashville, TN 37203-3411, 1-800-298-6288. |
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Recently Posted Legal Case Studies
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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. |
