Maryland Medical Malpractice Lawyer BlogAn IV, short for “intravenous,” is a familiar medical device used by doctors and nurses to administer various medications and other fluids to patients by inserting a needle or tube directly into the patient’s vein. Once the IV is inserted into the vein, it typically is taped to the skin to prevent it from moving or otherwise coming loose. If an IV becomes dislodged from the vein but stays under the patient’s skin, the medication being dispensed can be harmful to the surrounding tissue. This is called an IV extravasation.
Articles Tagged with anesthesia malpractice
Negligence Following Tonsillectomy Results in Brain Damage, $12.7 Million Verdict
A Pennsylvania jury this month awarded $12.7 million to a woman who suffered brain damage after her physicians prematurely removed her breathing tube at the conclusion of a routine tonsillectomy. At the time of the procedure, the woman was a 33 year-old special education teacher. The crux of the allegation was that the surgeon, anesthesiologist and nurse anesthetist did not properly evaluate whether the anesthesia had worn off enough for her breathing tube to safely be removed. After the breathing tube was removed, it was alleged that the health care providers did not monitor the woman’s oxygen levels for sixteen minutes and when they finally did, it showed an oxygen lever of 81 percent, which her lawyers described as “dangerously low.” She was re-intubated but was unresponsive and exhibiting seizure-like involuntary limb movements.
Anesthesia Malpractice During Dental Surgery Cause Death of Teen
In late March, a Maryland teen died at Johns Hopkins Hospital after she was deprived of oxygen during routine wisdom tooth surgery. Her parents have since brought a medical malpractice suit against the oral surgeon and anesthesiologist who performed the dental procedure.
Aspiration Pneumonia Malpractice
An Alabama jury has awarded $20 million in a medical malpractice case in which a woman died after receiving negligent anesthesia care. The woman, a wife and mother of two, died in 2006 after receiving anesthesia during exploratory surgery. The woman, who had been suffering from severe abdominal pain, aspirated bile from her stomach into her lungs, causing aspiration pneumonia. The family claimed that the defendant doctors did not examine the woman’s abdomen or look at her medical records before the exploratory surgery, which would have revealed her risk factors for breathing fluid into her lungs.