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Causes Of Paralysis During Surgery
Someone who undergoes surgery is usually aware that there are risks associated with the procedure and that a positive outcome cannot be guaranteed. However, no one wants to believe that they may be harmed during surgery because an anesthesiologist is not paying attention or a surgeon makes a mistake. While medical negligence only occurs in a small percentage of surgeries, the results of such errors are anything but small. For instance, something as life-altering as paralysis can be the outcome of a critical mistake made by a doctor during surgery.
Surgical Errors That Lead to Paralysis
While some surgical errors can be corrected with another surgery, when a patient is paralyzed by a surgeon's mistake, there is often nothing that can be done to fix it. Here are some ways in which a patient's care team could have caused paralysis during surgery:
- Incision errors. In brain or spinal cord surgery, it is critical that a surgeon is precise. When a surgeon is careless or unskilled and makes an accidental incision or an inaccurate cut, it can possibly lead to nerve and tissue damage that can cause paralysis.
Going Up Against A Trucking Company Following An Accident? Here’s What You Need To Know
If you get into an accident with a large commercial truck, pursuing a personal injury claim will proceed in a manner similar to that of a typical car accident; however, when large trucking companies are involved, it is important to know what to expect when dealing with them.
Big trucking companies have big teams. In fact, within hours of the crash, they usually send out investigators and attorneys to the crash site to start collecting evidence and looking for ways to lower their liability. They know that trucking accidents can produce serious injuries that can lead to expensive lawsuits, which is why they will do whatever it takes-even destroy evidence-to protect their interests. It is important to know this because in a normal car accident case, the other driver doesn't have his or her own investigators who will quickly arrive on the accident scene.
Other Differences Between Truck and Car Accident Cases
Dealing with a personal injury claim after a truck accident can be more complicated. This is because there are many parties that could be at fault for the wreck. For example, in a typical car accident injury claim, your lawsuit will be against the other driver and his or her insurance company. Unlike a car accident claim, a truck accident injury claim can be directed at multiple parties, including the trucking company, owner of the truck, truck driver, third party, or another party depending on the circumstances of the crash.
Is Infant Cephalohematoma A Birth Injury That Warrants A Medical Malpractice Claim?
During labor and delivery, a baby's head travels through the birth canal and undergoes a lot of stress as it tries to squeeze through the pelvic bones. Even in a normal labor, a baby will undergo a great amount of pressure that can lead to bruising and swelling-all perfectly normal results of labor and delivery. However, in more complicated deliveries, a baby's head may be compressed in the birth canal for a longer period of time, which may increase an infant's chance of cephalohematoma.
What Is Infant Cephalohematoma?
A hematoma is a collection of blood within the tissue. A cephalohematoma is a hematoma that develops on a baby's head, under the skin but above the skull. Because of its location, it will appear that there is a lump on the infant's head that may feel soft and squishy.
Causes of Infant Cephalohematoma
This condition typically occurs due to the difference in sizes between the infant's head and mother's pelvis. When a mother's pelvis is small and the baby is relatively big, the baby has a greater chance of developing a cephalohematoma due to the baby's head scraping along the sides of the birthing canal and the stress of being squeezed through the bones of the pelvis.
Why Head-On And Left-Turn Motorcycle Crashes Happen
Since motorcycles are small vehicles that lack the protection that cars offer, motorcycle accidents are more likely to result in injuries and deaths than other types of collisions. According to the latest statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) cited by the Insurance Information Institute, per mile driven in 2015, there were 29 times more deaths from motorcycle crashes than from car crashes, and motorcyclists were nearly five times more likely to suffer injuries than passenger car occupants.
Unfortunately, these alarming numbers are of great concern-especially to motorcyclists and their families-which is why motorcyclists as well as all motorists need to understand some of the most dangerous ways in which motorcycle crashes occur in order to reduce the likelihood of being involved in one.
Two of the Most Dangerous Ways Motorcycle Crashes Occur
The following types of crash are unfortunately common and can cause serious injuries:
Spasticity: A Stiff Side Effect Of A Brain Injury
When someone suffers trauma to the brain, it can lead to interrupted signals being sent from the brain to the muscles. As a result, someone may suffer from spasticity in addition to a brain injury. According to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, damage to the brain "can cause changes in muscle tone, movement, sensation and reflex."
What Is Spasticity?
Spasticity is an unfortunate possible side effect of a brain injury. It is defined as a muscle control disorder, which basically means that someone with spasticity isn't able to fully control his or her muscles. Consequently, a person with spasticity has stiff muscles due to a permanent contraction of the muscle. While someone with spasticity may only feel a mild tightness and discomfort in the muscles, spasticity can be so severe in others that it can cause excruciating pain in their limbs, joints, and back. Although spasticity is usually a tightness in the legs, spasticity and muscle tightness can also occur in the shoulders, elbows, arms, hips, knees, ankles and feet.
An Alarming Trend: Overprescribing Dangerous Drugs To Seniors
It is well known that some medications have side effects that can cause drowsiness, dizziness, confusion, and other adverse symptoms. This is why doctors have to be careful when prescribing medications to patients and check if the drug will interact with a patient's current medications. And while some doctors do their due diligence, others hand out multiple prescriptions at a time-even mixing some dangerous medications.
According to a study in the Journal of the American Medication Association (JAMA), overprescribing medications to older adults is a growing concern. Although seniors do tend to have many health conditions for which they need medication, the data analyzed in this study raises a huge concern regarding the number of polypharmacy incidents.
What Is Polypharmacy?
Polypharmacy is defined as prescribing multiple medications-sometimes more medications than are necessary. It is a growing concern in the elderly as patients who use multiple medications may be at risk for dangerous drug interactions and side effects such as balance problems and confusion, which can lead to injuries.
Birth Brain Injuries Caused By Medical Negligence
Parents get nine months to prepare for the birth of their babies, but no expectant parent prepares for the possibility that their child may suffer a birth injury. Unfortunately, there are many different birth injuries that may occur when negligence is involved. One of the most serious injuries babies may suffer during childbirth is a brain injury.
Typically, a baby's brain in injured when there is a lack of oxygen. When the brain is damaged, a child's ability to reason, speak, and develop normally may be affected for life. It's disheartening, but sometimes birth brain injuries are the result of doctor negligence.
Some of the ways in which negligence occurs during pregnancy or labor and delivery may include:
- Pregnancy negligence. When a doctor fails to monitor a pregnancy carefully, fails to detect a maternal infection, or prescribes a harmful medication during pregnancy, a brain injury may be the result and medical negligence may be to blame.
- Failure to perform a C-section. Sometimes there are complications with a mother's health or a baby's health and an emergency cesarean section surgery should be performed; however, a doctor may fail to perform a C-section in a timely manner. This can be the case if a baby is too big, suffers from irregularities in the heartbeat, or if there is a change in the mother's blood pressure or she is profusely bleeding. When doctors fail to act quickly and appropriately in ordering the C-section, a baby may suffer unnecessary birth injuries.
Bowel And Bladder Issues: The Unmentionable Side Effects Of A Brain Injury
The brain controls every function in the body-even bowel and bladder functions. In fact, the brain helps people know when they have to go to the bathroom and allows them to use their bodies in a way that helps them empty their bowels and bladders. So when someone suffers a brain injury as a result of medical malpractice, bladder and bowel issues are often a result.
What to Expect: Bowel and Bladder Changes
When someone who suffers trauma to the brain also experiences problems with her bowel and bladder, here are some things to expect:
- Bladder infections. Following a brain injury, bladder functions are often impaired which is why urinary catheters are often used in hospitals. Although a catheter can be helpful during this time, catheters can also increase someone's risk for a bladder infection.
- Skin sores. Because diapers are often needed when someone has trouble controlling one's bowels and bladder, it is possible to develop skin issues like sores that can lead to infections. When diapers are needed after a brain injury, it is critical to change the diaper often so that wounds don't develop and to monitor the skin for any changes.
When Doctors Fail To Conduct Tests: A Form Of Medical Negligence
Patients go to their doctors when they don't feel well or when something is wrong, trusting their doctors will diagnose their conditions and help them get better. Often, medical tests are necessary for thorough diagnosis. However, sometimes doctors fail to order imaging tests, blood work, or other diagnostic tests when they should have.
When needed tests are left undone, a patient may not receive appropriate treatment, and his or her condition can worsen. This can happen in the following ways:
- Emergency room doctors fail to order appropriate tests. Sometimes nurses and doctors in the emergency room (ER) are overworked and tired, and they fail to follow standard protocol. As a result, certain tests may be skipped when it is obvious specific testing should have occurred. Consequently, patients are often discharged too soon and then readmitted for the same health concern.
- Primary care doctors fail to conduct diagnostic tests. Family physicians treat their patients for a multitude of different ailments, but sometimes primary care doctors don't spend adequate time with their patients and don't order tests when there is reason. In fact, sometimes they make their best guess and prescribe a medication, hoping it will make the patient better. If it does not, some doctors will simply try a different medication-still not conducting appropriate diagnostic tests or referring their patients to a specialist.
Beware: Many Senior Drivers Are Impaired By Prescription Medications
The dangers of drinking alcohol or taking drugs before driving is usually a message geared towards younger drivers, but the reality is that many elderly drivers are guilty of driving under the influence of substances and need to be reminded of the dangers of impaired driving. This is because many seniors take multiple medications for their ailments and chronic health conditions.
Prescription medications and over-the-counter drugs can be dangerous when combined with driving. Just as alcohol and drugs adversely effect a driver's judgment, reactions, and thinking, taking a prescription or over-the-counter medication can impair a driver in the same way as drinking an alcoholic beverage before driving.
What's alarming is that 78 percent of elderly drivers admit to taking medication that could cause them to become impaired behind the wheel, according to a new report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). This is because many medications cause drowsiness and confusion, and many drugs interact with each other in ways that can affect one's ability to drive safely. Although pharmacists and doctors should discuss medication interactions with their patients, sometimes patients choose to ignore the warnings and end up driving impaired.
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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.
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