Columbus Legal Blog

Did your surgeon make a preventable error during your operation?

On behalf of Leeseberg & Valentine on Friday, September 14, 2018.

Going to the doctor may not be on your list of favorite pastimes, but it is something that you might find necessary at some point in your life. Especially if you, your spouse or one of your children are experiencing an ongoing health problem that requires specialized care. Perhaps a doctor has scheduled you to have, or you have recently undergone, surgery.

As a medical patient, you can reasonably expect that those to whom you entrust your care will act according to the highest level of accepted safety standards. The fact that many Ohio hospitals have understaffed, fatigued workers is an issue that may negatively affect your care, although it shouldn't. Such situations often lead to medical negligence, however, including surgical errors.

Was your hospital stay extended due to MRSA?

On behalf of Leeseberg & Valentine on Thursday, August 23, 2018.

You may have heard that there seems to be an epidemic of hospital-acquired infections in medical facilities across the country, including some here in Ohio. Perhaps you figured that since hospitals were aware of the problem, that automatically reduces your chances of contracting one of these superbug infections.

After finding yourself hospitalized after a surgery or due to some other health concern, you began feeling worse. By the time doctors diagnosed your condition, you required aggressive treatment for what most people know as MRSA.

Woman in Cleveland Dies While Riding Electric Scooter

By Leeseberg & Valentine posted in Injuries on Monday, August 20, 2018.

There is a reason so many ads are out there telling people to "Look Twice for Motorcycles". They are exposed and do not have all the safety features of a car. There are no airbags or seatbelts. If a motorcyclist is involved in an accident, the odds of it being serious are great. This same principle applies to the electric scooters popping up in cities across the country. These scooters, while a fun and convenient way to travel short distances, can be very dangerous - especially when sharing the road with other automobiles. Over the weekend, a young woman in Cleveland was struck and killed while operating one of these scooters. The crash happened around 10 p.m. on East 9th Street near St. Clair Avenue.

The most common cause of a perforated bowel is surgery

On behalf of Leeseberg & Valentine on Thursday, August 9, 2018.

One of the primary risks in any surgical procedure is that the surgeon will make a mistake. The mistake doesn't have to be big in order to put your life in jeopardy or leave you with permanent or debilitating injuries.

Something as simple as a surgeon nicking a portion of your bowel during an abdominal procedure could have devastating consequences to your health.

Bird, Lime deploy electric motorized scooters in Columbus

By Leeseberg & Valentine posted in Injuries on Wednesday, August 8, 2018.

Don't you know about the bird? No, we are not referring to the hit single by The Trashmen - we are talking about the new electric scooter craze popping up on city streets and sidewalks. This new mode of transportation is designed to provide another "last-mile" transportation option for those traveling short distances around the city. The scooters can be unlocked through a smartphone app for just $1 and an additional 15 cents per minute while riding. However, the costs of using these scooters can be much more severe if riders are not careful.

Did the differential diagnosis process fail you?

On behalf of Leeseberg & Valentine on Wednesday, July 25, 2018.

As you already know, many medical conditions manifest the same symptoms. This may present a challenge for your doctor, but with all of the advancements in imaging technology and other diagnostic tools, your doctor should come to the correct diagnosis.

Unfortunately, not all Ohio doctors take the necessary steps in order to determine what ailment you suffer from, and that could end up causing you more harm. In fact, it could put your life in danger and result in permanent health consequences.

The connection between brain injury and heart attack

On behalf of Leeseberg & Valentine on Thursday, July 12, 2018.

Did you go to the emergency room or your family doctor with symptoms you think may be a heart attack, but your doctor sent you home with another diagnosis or no diagnosis? Hopefully that was the end of it, but you may have suffered a serious heart attack that required the administration of CPR and a trip to the hospital.

When you awoke, you may not have been the same person you were prior to the incident. First, you are alive, but that doesn't let your doctor off the hook for failing to properly diagnose your condition earlier when it may have spared you any lingering effects from your serious heart attack.

Many medication errors can be prevented

On behalf of Leeseberg & Valentine on Thursday, June 28, 2018.

Between the opioid epidemic and the high volume of medications that many older patients take these days, the risk of a medication error continues to be a primary concern for many people. Whether the errors occur while a patient is in the hospital or occur at home, there are numerous places where the system can break down and end up causing harm.

If you are lucky, someone catches the error before the drug reaches you, but that is not always the case. In fact, estimates indicate that at least half of all medication errors could have been prevented. The questions then become: what is the problem and what will correct it?

Did you never fully recover from a bout of severe sepsis?

On behalf of Leeseberg & Valentine on Thursday, June 14, 2018.

You would think that there should be no reason why you would suffer from severe sepsis while in the care of an Ohio hospital and its medical personnel. Unfortunately, it happens more often than anyone would like to admit. Failing to diagnose an infection in a timely manner may have led to your sepsis, which is your body's over-reaction to an infection. Your body begins to attack itself and can kill you if not treated timely and properly.

You already know that someone probably failed to provide you the care you should have received, but even after surviving a bout of severe sepsis and returning home, you notice that you just never quite fully recovered. If so, you may be in good company. Up to 50 percent of patients who survive severe sepsis suffer from post-sepsis syndrome, which can cause a myriad of health issues for the rest of your life.

Misdiagnosis of this pregnancy-related illness happens often

On behalf of Leeseberg & Valentine on Thursday, May 31, 2018.

If you are like other Ohio women, your largest concerns regarding your pregnancy were during the first trimester, which many consider the most dangerous time for the baby. In fact, many women don't announce their pregnancies until they pass the three-month mark believing the danger has passed.

For many women, that may be true. They go on to have uneventful pregnancies and ultimately leave the hospital with a healthy new baby, but not everyone gets this type of happy ending. Any number of things could happen during the third trimester of your pregnancy that could put your life in jeopardy and possibly your baby's as well. Perhaps you neglected to think that your own life could end up at risk due to pregnancy-related ailments.