Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog

A Colorado woman who became partially paralyzed after doctors misdiagnosed her brain bleed as a migraine filed a medical malpractice lawsuit in 2008. Last month the jury returned their verdict. They awarded $3.9 million to Krissy Myatt finding her doctor guilty of medical malpractice.

In 2006, Krissy went to the emergency room at a hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado complaining of intense headaches. There, staff took her blood pressure which was a dangerously high 204/97. According to the National Heart Lung & Blood Institute, a blood pressure reading of 140/90 is considered high. A blood pressure reading of 160 systolic or 110 diastolic is considered severe. Krissy had been receiving treatment for multiple sclerosis, including high dose steroids that can cause high blood pressure. However, doctors diagnosed Krissy with a migraine and sent her home with pain medication. The following day, Krissy woke up without a headache but she could not walk or talk. Krissy's medical malpractice lawyer successfully argued Krissy paralysis was caused by an undiagnosed brain bleed which caused her to suffer a hemorrhagic stroke.

Continue reading "$3.9 Million Medical Malpractice Verdict For Misdiagnosis" »

On April 3, 2012, an Argentine mother was grieving the death of her baby after hospital staff declared her girl dead at birth. When Analia Bouguet went to view her daughter in a coffin at the morgue, she collapsed to the ground when she discovered her baby was in fact alive. In all my experience as a medical malpractice lawyer, I have never heard of such a case in the modern era.

Although thrilled her daughter is alive, Analia is still overwhelmed over being told her daughter is dead and then seeing her alive in a coffin. Analia has aptly named her girl Luz Milagros, which means "Miracle of Light." The case gained national attention when the Argentine deputy provencial health minister announced five medical professionals involved in the misdiagnosis have been suspended. Analia does plan on filing a medical malpractice suit. A week after her daughter's birth, Analia still only had a death certificate for baby Luz rather than a birth certificate.

Continue reading "Shocking Malpractice Suit Planned After Baby Found Alive In Coffin" »

According to a new study, women suffering from a heart attack are less likely to receive immediate treatment and more likely to die in the hospital than men. As a medical malpractice lawyer that has handled heart attack cases, I was initially shocked when I began reading this new study. However, after looking deeper into this and other similar studies, there appears to be at least one seemingly understandable explanation why women are less likely to receive immediate heart attack treatment: women are less likely to exhibit the classic sign of a heart attack, chest pain.

Many are familiar with the Hollywood heart attack depicted in the movies, which begins with sudden crushing chest pain. However, studies have shown that one-third of heat attack suffers had no chest pain whatsoever. For women, they are even less likely to exhibit chest pain from a heart attack compared to men.

The classic sign of a heart attack is chest pain, usually around the center or left side of the chest. According to the National Institute of Health, other common signs of a heart attack may include one or more of the following: upper body discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or upper part of the stomach; shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, light-headedness or sudden dizziness, or breaking out in a cold sweat; and sleep problems, fatigue or lack of energy. Unfortunately, not everyone having a heart attack has classic symptoms. Further, even with chest discomfort, many people confuse this symptom with angina rather than a heart attack.

Continue reading "Women Less Likely To Get Immediate Treatment For Heart Attack" »

The mother of a young boy filed a medical malpractice lawsuit in Connecticut alleging their pediatrician failed to diagnose bacterial meningitis resulting in the loss of her son's eyesight. The lawsuit alleges the boy's mother took her son, then 7-years-old, to their pediatrician complaining of a severe headache. The pediatrician purportedly diagnosed the boy with an ear infection. Even after several additional visits with worsening symptoms over the next few days, the pediatrician did not send the boy to the ER where, it is alleged, a spinal tap would have revealed meningitis and prompted immediate treatment to halt the disease. Instead, the boy was not sent to the ER until it was too late after he went into a comma while home, resulting in blindness and other injuries.

Meningitis is a potentially life-threatening condition, particularly if bacterial, which causes inflammation of the membranes that surround the brain or spinal cord. If not treated in a timely fashion by doctors, bacterial meningitis can rapidly progress resulting in permanent brain damage or even death. Normally a complication of that occurs in the blood stream, meningitis can directly decrease the ability of the brain to protect itself from blood contamination. When this brain barrier is invaded by meningitis, infectious organisms invade triggering an inflammatory response. As this inflammatory response increases, brain tissue can begin to swell causing decreased blood flow to vital areas of the brain.

The signs and symptoms of bacterial meningitis vary depending upon age. In children older than one, classic signs and symptoms of bacterial meningitis may include one or more of the following: headache, nausea, vomiting, increased sensitivity to light, fever, altered mental status, lethargy, seizure activity, and neck stiffness or pain among others. For viral meningitis, the most common symptoms resemble those of the flu such as fever, muscle aches, cough and headache.

Continue reading "Malpractice Lawsuit: Boy Loses Eyesight After Doctor Allegedly Failed To Diagnose Meningitis " »