USA Today recently published an article featuring a former client as part of their "Deadly Deliveries" series detailing their investigation into maternal safety and childbirth complications in the United States. Leeseberg & Valentine represented Emilee Strezinski after she suffered complications while delivering her daughter at Community Memorial Hospital in Hicksville, Ohio. During her delivery, her doctor decided to do an episiotomy, a surgical cut to the vagina during childbirth, that resulted in severe lacerations to her rectum, anus, and sphincter and caused significant pain, leakage, constipation, and incontinence. Emilee alleged her physician was negligent in performing the episitomy and Leeseberg & Valentine was ultimately able to secure a significant settlement on her behalf.
Are you at risk for a medication error in an Ohio hospital?
Having to stay in the hospital, even for one day, can be stressful and upsetting. If you're scheduled for surgery in an Ohio hospital or you wound up in admittance because of an urgent circumstance such as a car accident injury, you will no doubt be depending on an entire team of licensed medical professionals to help you get well.
While not every person in the hospital has surgery, most people receive some type of care from nurses while they are patients. Regardless of the details that landed you in a hospital bed, if you receive medication while you're there, you're at risk for injury. Although accepted safety standards and regulations help keep you safe, nurses often make medication errors. Knowing where to seek support if a problem arises is a high priority for all hospital patients.
Things that should never happen in Ohio hospitals
Ohio hospitals are often busy, chaotic places, especially in emergency rooms. If you suffer an injury or schedule a surgical procedure, you may wind up spending a lot more time in the hospital than you'd ever prefer to do. When you need hospital care, you typically interact with numerous licensed medical professionals while you're there. Especially if you are having surgery, you will likely be in frequent contact with your own doctor, your surgeon and a whole team of nurses and other medical workers.
During the course of a hospital stay, any number of things can go wrong that place you at risk for injury. Some situations might not be anyone's fault. Sadly, however, many hospital injury incidents are completely preventable, and happen only because someone was negligent.
How to identify a case of sepsis after a surgical procedure
You knew before you went into surgery that one of the risks was infection. You expected the medical staff surrounding you to watch for the signs. If you did contract an infection, you expected them to identify and treat it quickly.
If that didn't happen, you may experience other symptoms. These warning signs could mean that you now suffer from sepsis, which if left unchecked could threaten your life.
Pregnancy complications that warrant action from your doctor
When you're pregnant, your doctor or midwife has a fiduciary duty to closely observe your and your baby's conditions to help you both stay as safe as possible so that you will have a healthy labor and delivery. If a health concern arises, your Ohio care provider is responsible for properly diagnosing your condition and taking whatever measures are necessary, according to accepted safety standards, to help you rectify the situation.
There are certain health conditions that may not go away until your baby is born. In such circumstances, your care provider must keep a careful watch on both you and your baby. Mothers and babies are at great risk for injury if a medical team member is negligent.
Most common surgical errors in Ohio hospitals
When a doctor recommends that you have surgery, it can be quite stressful and worrisome. Depending on your circumstances, the procedure in question might be elective, such as those you might seek for cosmetic reasons, or your doctor might inform you that surgery is necessary to resolve an injury, health condition or, even, to save your life.
Entrusting your health to a surgeon and medical team means that you can reasonably expect all licensed care providers to act according to the highest level of accepted safety standards. If one or more care providers fail in their duties, you might suffer serious injury that causes partial or full disability for the rest of your life, or even places your life at risk.
Mount Carmel increases total number of employees on leave to 35
The Columbus Dispatch reported yesterday that four dozen pharmacists and nurses were involved in the care and treatment of 35 patients in the Mount Carmel West ICU and have been reported to their respective state licensing boards. Of those 48 employees, 30 have been placed on paid leave and the other 18 have left the health system entirely. Mount Carmel also reports they have placed five managers on paid leave, bringing the total number to 35 employees.
Addressing emotional, physical and legal issues re cerebral palsy
The day your child was born in an Ohio hospital was supposed to be one of the most exciting, joyful days of your life. You thought it was, at first, until something went wrong and your baby suffered a birth injury. The signs of cerebral palsy might not have been immediately apparent. However, it's not about when your child's symptoms surfaced as much as who is liable for the injury when medical negligence was the causal factor.
Your life changed forever as a parent of a child with cerebral palsy. Connecting with other parents who are in similar situations can provide tremendous emotional support as you learn how to care for your son or daughter so that he or she can live as healthy and joyful a life as possible. It's also a good idea to know where to seek legal support, especially if you have questions regarding medical malpractice laws.
Q&A on MRSA Infections
Why can MRSA be considered a serious problem?
Causes and consequences of medical errors in Ohio
There are many good hospitals and other medical facilities in Ohio. Perhaps you and your family have been under the care of the same physician for years. Nowadays, however, it's not uncommon to see several different doctors every time you seek a medical examination, especially if you are receiving prenatal care in pregnancy. There's always a risk that you may suffer injury or illness when exposed to a medical environment.
However, as a patient, you can reasonably expect that any doctor, nurse, practitioner or other medical staff member who tends to your care will act according to the highest level of accepted safety standards. Sadly, thousands of people fall victim to negligence every year, when licensed medical professionals fail in their obligations to provide effective and safe support to their patients.
