Maryland Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog

A Hartford, Connecticut boy's family has filed a medical malpractice suit against his pediatrician, alleging that the doctor's failure to timely diagnose the child's bacterial meningitis lead to the 7-year-old losing his eyesight.

The boy went to his pediatrician complaining of severe headaches. However, this symptom went unnoticed and he was diagnosed with an ear infection, the first of several medical errors. He returned to the doctor when his condition did not improve but was sent away by a receptionist who said there was nothing more the office could do for him. When the child was finally sent for a CT scan, he was only diagnosed with a migraine. This was yet another medical mistake in the young boy’s care. This several day delay in diagnosis allowed the condition to worsen, and the infection to spread.

Bacterial meningitis is a potentially fatal condition where the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord become inflamed as result of a bacterial infection. The CDC has stated that early diagnosis is critical to the successful treatment of bacterial meningitis.

The child ultimately was not properly diagnosed with bacterial meningitis until he fell into a coma. When he awoke weeks later, he was blind. The child also suffered from fever, respiratory failure, impaired speech, impaired hearing, seizures and brain damage, the combination of which required that the 7-year-old undergo extensive rehabilitation.

The lawyer representing the pediatrician and her office characterized the suit as a false allegation and maintained that the doctor did nothing wrong. However, the child's attorney disputed that the "standard of care" afforded to the child was proper. In this case, all the symptoms were there, and the doctor just missed them; had the pediatrician sent the boy to an emergency room, a spinal tap would have revealed the meningitis, allowing antibiotics to stop the disease before it took his eyesight.

A copy of the article regarding the lawsuit can be found here.

Recently, a New York District Judge ordered Mogen Circumcision Instruments of New York to pay compensatory and punitive damages totaling $10.8 million to a Florida boy and his parents following a medical instrument malfunction. Despite the instrument maker’s claims that injury arising from the use of their Mogen clamp was impossible, the boy lost a portion of his penis. This is not the first time Mogen has been at the center of a circumcision injury lawsuit. Mogen was involved in a 2007 Massachusetts lawsuit where it was forced to pay $7.5 million. In the current case, the baby lost the entire head (glans) of his penis. The judgment amount was based on the court’s determination the Mogen had to pay for both medical expenses and the years of therapy that the child will need. A copy of the article regarding the case can be found here.

Malpractice is sometimes to blame for circumcision mistakes and injuries as well. A jury in a 2009 case awarded $2.3 million to a baby and his parents after too much tissue was removed during his circumcision. Despite a nurse’s complaint of excessive bleeding, the baby’s pediatrician failed to respond; had he, the tip of the penis might have been reattached. As a result of the medical negligence, the baby lost a third of the glans of his penis. The New York jury found both the physician who performed the circumcision and the pediatrician negligent.

As an experienced Baltimore, Maryland medical malpractice lawyer, I have handled a number of medical malpractice cases involving injured children. Many of these cases involve psychological as well as physical injury and damage. They are extremely complicated and require expertise that most general personal injury attorneys do not have. To see some of the cases I have handled, click here.

A Minnesota jury has awarded more than $1.25 million to the family of a 21 month old boy who died due to an infected (gangrenous) appendix that a doctor failed to diagnose and treat. The family claimed that the boy was misdiagnosed on two separate occasions over four days, including the day before he died.

The family alleged that when the doctor examined the boy’s abdomen, the boy cried louder than ever, but the doctor told the boy’s father that the boy’s appendix was fine. Thus, the doctor did not order an ultrasound or CT scan which would have diagnosed the problem. The doctor then diagnosed gastroenteritis. Evidence presented at trial established that the doctor scheduled pediatric patients in 10-minute increments. Thus, the family claimed that he was too busy to give each patient the attention they needed and deserved.

The doctor’s diagnosis of influenza was made over the phone and the family was discouraged from bringing the child into the clinic to be seen. That day, the doctor’s appointment schedule showed that 45 children were scheduled to be seen, and that the doctor was behind schedule. A copy of the article regarding the case can be found here.

As an experienced Baltimore, Maryland medical malpractice lawyer, I have successfully handled a number of medical malpractice cases involving children (pediatrics) who have been injured or killed Most of these involve the failure to timely diagnose and treat certain medical conditions that can be fatal, such as bacterial infections and genetic conditions. These cases are always gut-wrenching because of the innocence of children and the parents’ desire to trust what the doctor says.

I also have successfully handled appendix cases. These have all been failure to diagnose and treat inflamed or ruptured appendixes, usually causing severe injury or death. Sadly, a simple and relatively inexpensive CT scan usually will diagnose an inflamed or ruptured infection. Sometimes these CT scans are not read properly, which is even worse because it sends the treating doctors on a wild goose chase looking for other causes of the patient’s symptoms. To see some of the cases I have handled, click here.