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Recent Blog Posts
Will My Health Care Providers Tell Me If A Mistake Has Been Made?
In our experience, health care providers rarely disclose that a medical mistake or negligence occurred. This is true even for health care providers who become involved in patient care after the mistake or negligence has already occurred. As a result, medical records often need to be obtained in order to determine what happened. In 2005, Virginia passed a law that encouraged expressions of sympathy and fault on the part of health care providers by making such expressions inadmissible at trial. Despite this law, our experience still remains that health care providers rarely disclose medical mistakes. The District of Columbia does not have a law similar to Virginia's.
When Does a Health Care Provider's failure To Treat An Infection Become Medical Malpractice?
Medical malpractice is when a medical provider has not acted in accordance with recognized standards of care. Typically, when a patient is diagnosed with infection, a course of treatment with antibiotics is required. If your infection was diagnosed as some other type of illness, if you were given an antibiotic that was not proper for your type of infection, or if your health care provider was slow in diagnosing your infection, then you may have a case of medical malpractice. We specialize in representing clients who have suffered from not being properly treated for an infection, when that infection has grown into complex medical problems. Contact Shevlin Smith Law office today at 703-591-0067 for your free consultation.
Types Of Medical Negligence That Cause Toxicity And Lead To Brain Damage
Drug toxicity is a problem that often goes unnoticed by patients and doctors. Typically, someone will start having strange side effects or experience an overall health deterioration, but medical professionals may fail to recognize the symptoms, order lab tests, or perform physical exams to determine the cause of the patient's adverse health condition. This is because the medication a person is taking isn't always considered when evaluating what seems to be symptoms of a new medical condition; however, the fact of the matter is that toxicity can be the cause.
Understanding Drug Toxicity
Toxicity generally means that a person has too much of a drug in his or her bloodstream. When too much of a medication is accumulated, it can be poisonous and cause adverse health effects, such as brain damage. In the context of medical malpractice, there are several different types of errors that can lead to drug toxicity and brain damage, including:
- Doctor errors. Every day doctors prescribe medications for many different patients. If a doctor prescribes the wrong medication or leaves a patient on a specific medication for too long, it is possible that a patient will have too much of that medication in his or her bloodstream, creating a toxic effect. Sometimes, a doctor may have prescribed the right drug but doesn't provide a physical examination over time to determine if a patient's weight has changed or if the person's body is still able to metabolize the drug in the same way. For example, if a person loses weight but is still taking the same dose of medication, it is possible that the medication could build up to toxic levels. When ignored for too long, drug toxicity can kill off brain cells and lead to brain damage.
How Does A Catastrophic Injury Case Differ From The Other Types Of Cases That Shevlin Smith Handles?
The term "catastrophic" injury is used in the legal community as a means of differentiating between injuries that are severe and generally permanent in nature from injuries that are less severe and generally temporary in nature. A catastrophic injury can occur as a result of medical malpractice, a car accident, a truck accident, or some other type of event. The term "catastrophic" injury is used by us in an effort to inform potential clients that we handle cases other than medical malpractice or car/truck accidents. For example, we have represented clients who suffered severe injuries from food poisoning, from pharmacy errors, from sexual assaults, and from medical device failure.
Michael Shevlin Named To Million Dollar Advocates Forum
The Million dollar Advocates Forum is recognized as one of the most prestigious groups of trial lawyers in the United States. The organization was found in 1993. Fewer than 1% of U.S. attorneys are members. Michael Shevlin has been certified as a life member of this forum.
Read More About Michael Shevlin Named to Million Dollar Advocates Forum…
When Poor Handoffs Cause Patients To Suffer
A stroke.
A leg that was broken during high school football practice.
A baby about to be born...and it might be twins.
The reasons why people come to stay at a hospital are as varied as the patients themselves. But all patients arrive trusting they will receive good medical care. And while most patients do receive good treatment, sometimes the health of a patient is made worse due to poor medical care. All too often, poor patient handoff is the cause of deficient care.
Understanding Patient Handoffs
Because no doctor or nurse can stay in the hospital around the clock, patients end up being cared for by several different providers during their hospitalization. A patient may be seen by different physicians throughout the day. Generally, a patient will have a day nurse and a different night nurse due to shift changes, and other support personnel-nursing assistants, orderlies, and other professional-will change too. When shifts change, medical information about patients is transferred between the providers. This passing of patient care and information from one caregiver to another is known as patient handoff.
What Is A Spinal Cord Injury?
A spinal cord injury is defined as damage to the spinal cord that leads to neurological deficits — such as paralysis, weakness, numbness, or an inability to control bowel and bladder functions. The spinal cord can be injured by: (1) direct trauma (accident or fall); (2) loss of sufficient blood supply due to internal bleeding, prolonged compression from a herniated disc, or infected abscess that was not timely diagnosed and treated; (3) direct injury from surgical instruments. Often a delay in the treatment of a spinal cord injury transforms a temporary problem into a permanent disabling condition. Spinal cord injuries typically involve injury to the vertebrae, which are the rings of bones that surround the spinal cord and make up the spinal column. The vertebrae are named according to their location in the spinal column. There are seven cervical (neck), twelve thoracic (back), five lumbar and five sacral (lower back) vertebrae. Cervical spinal cord injuries usually cause loss of function in both the arms and legs, resulting in tetraplegia. Thoracic spinal cord injuries usually affect the chest and the legs; and Lumbar and Sacral injuries affect the hips and legs, resulting in paraplegia.
Unnecessary Birth Brain Injuries: The Result Of A Delayed C-Section
Although many women arrive at the birthing center of their local hospitals in labor and hope to have a natural delivery, sometimes problems occur and an emergency C-section delivery is required. This is often the case when the baby is in distress, if there is a prolapsed cord, and when uterine rupture or placental abruption occurs. A C-section is also needed if the labor is failing to progress.
In most cases of emergency C-sections, the baby becomes distressed and his or her heart rate or oxygen levels aren't what they should be. Before rushing into a C-section, the medical staff will make attempts to help the labor along by turning the mother on her side or trying other interventions. However, if a nurse or obstetrician allows the labor to continue for too long, it could mean the baby isn't receiving necessary oxygen.
When the medical staff fails to monitor a baby's heart rate or fails to order or perform an emergency C-section in a timely manner, the baby can suffer serious disabilities, such as:
Was A Doctor Negligent In Diagnosing Your Stroke?
About 800,000 people in the U.S. have a stroke every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Sadly, strokes are the fifth leading cause of death, and one of the main causes of disabilities in adults. In fact, one type of disabling effect of a stroke is brain damage.
Because oxygen and the blood supply to the brain are interrupted during a stroke, brain cells can die off and a person can suffer a stroke-induced brain injury. This is why it is critical to know the signs of a stroke and to seek medical attention immediately in order to prevent death, brain damage, and other disabilities. For this reason, we want to review the signs and symptoms of a stroke.
Symptoms of a Stroke
The following are common symptoms of stroke:
- Painful headache that comes on suddenly
- Weakness or numbness in the face or on one side of the body
- Sudden difficulty seeing out of one or both eyes
Numbers Don’t Lie: Stop On Red
Although intersections are designed to keep motorists safe, they can only keep people safe when rules are followed. When people run red lights or stop signs, they compromise the safety of intersections. Consequently, red light running leads to serious and even fatal crashes, and it happens more than you may think.
Hundreds of people die and thousands of people suffer injuries every year in side-impact crashes that involve red light running. In fact, in 2014, 126,000 people were injured and 709 people lost their lives due to red light runners, according to the Insurance Institute for Traffic Safety. Sadly, more than half of the people who died in these crashes were bicyclists, pedestrians, and other motorists hit by drivers who ran red lights.
Although most people feel that red light running is unacceptable, seven percent of drivers have admitted to blowing through a red light in the past month, according to a survey from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. Not only is running a red light illegal, but it threatens the driver's safety and the safety of everyone sharing the road with that driver.
703-591-0067
10513 Judicial Drive, Suite 200, Fairfax, VA 22030
703-591-0067
From our office in Fairfax, Shevlin Smith, P.C. serves clients throughout Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., including Alexandria, Annandale, Arlington, Ashburn, Burke, Centreville, Dale City, Fair Oaks, Leesburg, Manassas, McLean, Oakton, Reston, Springfield, and Woodbridge, as well as Fairfax County, Arlington County, Fauquier County, Loudoun County, and Prince William County.
Results listed are not a guarantee or indication of future case results.
