John Murtha, a U.S. Congressman for nearly 40 years and the first Vietnam War veteran to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, may have died due to a surgical error, according to the Post-Gazette.com Rep. Murtha went in for Laparoscopic gallbladder removal surgery but suffered complications after the procedure. Apparently, the complications stemmed…
Each year, thousands of surgical items are accidently left in patients. The use of a “safe-surgery checklist” could reduce, if not eliminate, this problem.
On Feb. 11, 2009, a man went to see Orange, Virginia (VA), doctor Amy Cooley, complaining of a three-week case of heartburn and pain and pressure in his chest. Cooley, according to a report in the Fredericksburg Freelance Lance-Star, determined that the man had a blood pressure of 200/100 mm Hg and, despite having prescriptions…
In a prime example of medical malpractice, a doctor in Minnesota removed the wrong kidneys of a patient in 2008. Finally, after two long years, the doctor received their punishment – a ban from performing surgical procedures, according to The National Ledger. This isn’t the first time the wrong kidney has been removed from a patient….
A Chicago, Illinois (IL)-area family has received a $7.5 million settlement from a hospital, oncologist and treatment provider because medical records clearly showed that the mother and wife received harmful doses of radiation while being treated for endometrial cancer. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Patricia Quirk received 17 treatments from Little Company of Mary Hospital,…