Medical Malpractice News
When Lisa Ellis went into labor with her first child on April 26, 2001, Matthew Ellis, her husband, was ready. He quickly packed the car and rushed his wife and unborn son into the Aultman Hospital in Canton, Ohio. Lisa had a difficult delivery. Her son’s head was facing in the wrong direction and her doctor, Laura Fortner, used a vacuum and forceps to extract the infant. According to a medical malpractice lawsuit, filed on behalf of the Ellis family, during the delivery Dr. Fortner allegedly inflicted permanent injuries on the child.
According to the attorneys representing the Ellis family, Fortner should have opted for a Caesarian section, or at least proposed one. And according to the lawsuit, because of the doctor’s alleged negligence, the child will suffer from brain damage for the rest of his life. Immediately after the delivery, the Ellis baby was rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit at Aultman. Bruising and contusions were visible and the doctors at the intensive care warned the family that there might be permanent injuries.
“They were hopeful he would grow out of the problems, but reality set in by the time he was 9 or 10,” said one of the lawyers representing the Ellis family. “That’s when we started the investigation.”
After more than four years of litigation the lawsuit was brought to trial because the two parties could not come to a settlement. The plaintiffs argued that irreversible brain damage was inflicted on the infant during his birth. The two-week trial was held at the Summit County Common Pleas Court last month. After deliberating for one day, the Summit County jury found in favor of the Ellis family. The verdict came with an $11.35 million award for the Ellis family, including $9.5 million for economic losses and $1.85 million for noneconomic.
“This is a wonderful family and a very deserving child for this award by the jury,” said the Ellis attorney after the trial. “It will hopefully provide funds to take care of him in the future.”
When Lisa Ellis went into labor with her first child on April 26, 2001, Matthew Ellis, her husband, was ready. He quickly packed the car and rushed his wife and unborn son into the Aultman Hospital in Canton, Ohio. Lisa had a difficult delivery. Her son’s head was facing in the wrong direction and her
Read More When Sydney Galleger was told that she needed to get her wisdom teeth removed, she decided to wait until she finished her junior year of high school. Galleger was busy with her final exams and planning out which colleges she would be applying to the next year. On June 9, 2015, a few weeks after her
Read More Kathy Arient, then 58, sought out medical attention in October 2012, complaining of severe stomach pains. She was referred to Dr. Yasser Alhaj-Hussein, who worked at the Orland Park Surgical Center in Illinois. According to a medical malpractice lawsuit, filed on behalf of Arient’s family, during a celiac plexus block procedure, intended to help manage
Read More This article provides an overview of New Mexico medical malpractice law. Lawmakers in the Land of Enchantment have fashioned a distinctive medical malpractice system whose signature features include a state malpractice insurance fund, strict limits on monetary damages, and a mandate to obtain a medical review panel’s opinion before filing suit. Because it is useful
Read More The Law of Medical Malpractice in Utah: A Survey of Basic Considerations Utah medical malpractice law is among the most complex legal practice areas. The statutes, case law, and regulations governing medical malpractice law in Utah are highly technical. For instance, there are very strict and complicated filing deadlines that must be followed, or the injured
Read More On August 11, 2012, Morley Reed Sprague was rushed to the hospital. He was suffering from sepsis, a potentially lethal condition stemming from a severe infection, and a urinary tract infection. Sprague, then 57, had been suffering from MS for nearly two decades and in 2012 he was confined to a wheelchair. After a 12
Read More After completing a 5k race in October 2012, Sandra Williams experienced an intense pain in her neck. Barely able to move her head, Williams, then 55, consulted doctors at St. Francis Hospital in Columbus, Georgia. She quickly agreed to undergo a neck operation scheduled just four days after the race. The surgery was deemed a
Read More On February 24, 1998, the year after graduating from high school, Jason Simcakoski joined the United States Marine Corps. Simcakoski served for four years and was honorably discharged in 2002 after sustaining a significant injury to his head. After his service was over he began suffering from anxiety attacks and sought treatment at the Tomah
Read More In April 2014, while under the care of Whitestone Care Center, Edward Arnold allegedly broke several bones in his body and came down with pneumonia. Arnold, 70-years-old at the time, was at the Whitestone nursing home, located in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, for only twenty days. According to a medical malpractice lawsuit, filed on behalf of his
Read More Toward the end of 2009, after having trouble conceiving, Danielle Madden Buck and her husband decided to try in-vitro fertilization. The procedure worked and Buck became pregnant with triplets. Her doctors, however, advised her that carrying triplets was dangerous and that twins would be more likely to survive than three infants. Buck took the recommendation
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Mercy Hospital and Two Missouri Doctors Found Negligent for Misdiagnosis; Jury Awards Plaintiff $12,820,990 Vincent Lowe woke up on April 30, 2014 in agonizing pain. He tried to endure the discomfort in his abdomen, but when the throbbing became unbearable Lowe was rushed to the emergency room at Mercy Hospital, located in Washington, Missouri. The
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South Florida Jury Finds Doctor Negligent in 2011 Medical Malpractice Lawsuit; Awards Plaintiff $16,922,000 On November 21, 2008, the pain in Stephanie Hollingsworth’s feet and hands became so acute that she went to the emergency room at Holy Cross Hospital, located in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Hollingsworth, then 26, believed that the pain was from an
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Jury Finds New Jersey Hospital & Doctor Liable for Brain Trauma; Awards Family $17 Million Kelsey Heaney was seven-years-old when she began showing signs of respiratory distress. Her symptoms became so severe that her parents rushed her to the Jersey Shore University Medical Center on November 14, 2008. The attending physicians quickly diagnosed Heaney with
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Dangerous Deliveries: Forceps and Vacuum Births Gone Wrong Rachel Melancon and her fiancée, Allen Coats, were overjoyed when they learned in the spring of 2013 that they were having a baby. “I just found out that you are swimming in my tummy. I have waited for you so long,” the 24-year-old expectant mother wrote in her
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Jury Finds Eastern Maine Medical Center & Surgeon Negligent for Medical Malpractice; Awards Robbie Nason $2 Million On July 17, 2013, Robbie Nason went to work at Old Town Canoe located in Old Town, Maine, just as he had for over a decade. Nason, 49, started building boats for Old Town Canoe in 1989 and
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The Law of Medical Malpractice in Rhode Island: A Survey of Basic Considerations Rhode Island medical malpractice law is among the most complex legal practice areas. The statutes, case law, and regulations governing medical malpractice law in Rhode Island are highly technical. For instance, there are very strict and complicated filing deadlines that must be
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Florida Supreme Court Rules Secret Ex Parte Interviews of Medical Malpractice Plaintiffs’ Doctors Unconstitutional On November 9, 2017, the Florida Supreme Court issued its highly anticipated decision in Weaver v. Myers, No. SC15-1538 (Nov. 9, 2017). In Weaver, the Supreme Court struck two provisions pertaining to secret, ex parte interviews with plaintiffs’ healthcare providers in connection
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The Law of Medical Malpractice in Kentucky: A Survey of Basic Considerations This article provides an overview of Kentucky medical malpractice law. The Bluegrass State generally treats malpractice claims the same as other types of negligence claims, with a few important exceptions. Kentucky lawmakers have been deterred from placing a statutory maximum limit on monetary
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During Samantha Alpert’s senior year at Livingston High School, she was informed by her doctors that she had a benign bone growth in her left leg called osteochondroma. Steven Robbins, her orthopedic surgeon, wanted to check for cancer and performed a biopsy on June 5, 2013. According to a medical malpractice lawsuit, filed on behalf
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In August 2010, Joann Shull Bannister and her husband were told by Dr. Philip Kinder that his team at Columbia Urological Associates were planning on surgically removing a lesion from her left kidney. The Bannisters were relieved when it was determined shortly thereafter that the surgery was unnecessary. According to a medical malpractice lawsuit, filed
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Esmeralda Tripp, then 42, went to see her doctor for a checkup in September 2013. Tripp was taking a prescribed blood thinner called Coumadin and she had a history of seizures. Her primary physician was concerned that her blood was actually too thin and told Tripp that she needed to go straight to an emergency
Read More Jump To: The Law of Medical Malpractice in Mississippi:I. Overview of Basic Principles and ConceptsII. Filing Deadlines for Medical Malpractice ClaimsIII. Presuit Notice and Medical Expert ConsultationIV. Immunities and Limitations on LiabilityV. Medical Expert WitnessesVI. Comparative Negligence / Proportionate LiabilityVII. Limitations on DamagesVIII. Limitations on Attorney FeesIX. Patient Compensation FundsX. Apologies and Sympathetic GesturesXI. Communications
Read More On February 29, 2016, Andrew J. Martin, then 70 years old, was brought into the Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center, located in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Margaret Martin, his wife, and their three children, were under the impression that he would be quickly returning from the hospital in good health. But after spending 77 days at the
Read More Early in 2014, Dominique Adkins underwent an operation to have her thyroid gland removed at a hospital in Charleston, West Virginia. Adkins, 38 at the time, came out of the operation unable to speak and in severe pain. According to a medical malpractice lawsuit, filed in March 2016, her doctor allegedly impaired critical nerves in
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When Waiting Wreaks Havoc How Delayed C-Sections Can Cause Serious Injury When Victoria Upsey arrived at Pottstown Memorial Medical Center on a Sunday afternoon in August of 2008, the 34-year-old expectant mother knew something wasn’t right. Her baby wasn’t due for another month, but she was experiencing “constant cramps,” according to court documents, and her
Read MoreAultman Hospital was also sued, but were dismissed of any charges. It is not yet clear whether Dr. Fortner will appeal the ruling. Fortner contested the charges and her lawyers claimed that the boy was autistic, but an MRI confirmed the brain damage.