Tag: medical malpractice lawyers

Abdominal Injury During Laparoscopy

Posted on by YostLaw

Laparoscopy is one of the most common abdominal surgical procedures performed around the world. It is a minimally invasive surgery, which a surgeon performs by making several small incisions, each one about ½” in size, through which surgical instruments are inserted. Minimizing the size of the surgical incision greatly reduces the patient’s post-operative healing time, decreases the patient’s risk of developing a post-operative hernia, and minimizes surgical scars.

Unfortunately, the very small size of the laparoscopic incisions limits the surgeon’s view while entering the patient’s abdomen.  This limited view during insertion of sharp surgical instruments can cause serious injury to the patient.  If the surgeon is negligent in placing surgical tools too deep into the patient’s abdominal cavity, blood vessels or bowel are damaged and the patient can suffer life-threatening injuries such as internal bleeding (hemorrhage from a lacerated artery or vein) or sepsis (infection spread from a perforated or lacerated small intestine or bowel).

Vascular injury (injury to blood vessels) and bowel injury are the most common injuries suffered by patients having laparoscopic surgery and very often occur just as the abdomen is being entered and before the intended surgical procedure begins.  Major injury can occur when the Veress needle (a special needle used inflate the abdomen) or a trocar (a sharply pointed metal tube through which surgical tools are passed in and out of the abdomen) is negligently inserted into an artery, vein, colon, small intestine, ureter or other internal organ.

Additionally, a medical mistake can occur when the weight of a patient is not taken into consideration before surgery. In thinner patients, the distance between the anterior abdominal wall (where there are layers of abdominal muscle and tendons) and the retroperitoneal vascular structures (the major blood vessels located just behind the abdominal wall) is incredibly small. The distance between the abdominal wall and the thin patient’s aorta, iliac artery, and other great vessels may be as little as two centimeters. The distal aorta and right common iliac artery are particularly prone to injury and can be cut or damaged by negligent trocar placement at the beginning of the laparoscopic procedure.

Before laparoscopy is performed on a patient, the patient must be properly evaluated, including a full clinical history and thorough clinical examination. If you would like to discuss your potential claim arising from an injury during laparoscopy, the attorneys at Yost Legal Group are experienced professionals ready to investigate your claim with compassion and determination.

Call The Yost Legal Group today at 1-800-YOST-LAW (967-8529) for a FREE, confidential, no-obligation consultation.

At The Yost Legal Group, you will never pay an attorney’s fee unless we achieve a recovery for you. We don’t get paid until you do

Sleep Apnea Sufferers Have a Higher Risk of Hypoxia During Surgery

Posted on by YostLaw

Sleep apnea is a disorder where breathing repeatedly stops and starts while the individual is asleep. Since it is a disruption to REM sleep, those affected often feel fatigued during the day or wake up with headaches and have difficulty with irritability and paying attention. It is also uncontrollable, which can make it potentially dangerous to those who suffer from it.

Sleep apnea can cause complications when a patient is put under anesthesia for surgery. Anesthesia is a temporary state of unconsciousness. It slows down heart rate and relaxes the patient, which can then cause more intense breathing issues for those with sleep apnea.

Patients who have sleep apnea have an increased chance of complications during anesthesia including:

  • Hypoxia
  • Pneumonia
  • Difficult Intubation
  • Heart Attack (MI)
  • Pulmonary Embolism (PE)

When undergoing surgery it is important to inform your doctor if you have sleep apnea. However, most individuals who have sleep apnea are unaware that they even suffer from it. Before surgery takes place, it is the responsibility of your doctor to conduct a thorough preoperative assessment to ensure that the patient will be safe once in surgery.

Post-operative patients should also be closely monitored for hypoxia or other complications. Hypoxia is a life-threatening condition that occurs when a person is not receiving enough oxygen, such as when the airway is blocked, or breathing is too shallow, too slow, or breathing stops altogether. Hypoxic injuries include tissue and organ damage, heart attacks, brain injury and even death.

Symptoms of hypoxia include:

  • Skin, lips and nail beds turning blue (cyanosis)
  • Fast heart rate (tachycardia)
  • Rapid breathing (tachypnea)
  • Shortness of breath (dyspnea)
  • Coughing
  • Confusion or loss of consciousness.

When any of these symptoms occur the most important thing is to get oxygen back into the body. Hospital professionals may do this by delivering oxygen through at tube into the nose or mouth, or a breathing machine may be used for more severe cases.

If you or a loved one experienced hypoxia or any other complication after surgery because a health care professional failed to take the necessary precautions to ensure your safety, call The Yost Legal Group at 1-800-YOST-LAW (967-8529) for a free consultation. Our experienced attorneys at Yost Legal Group fight hard for individuals who have been negatively impacted by the negligence of others and are always ready to investigate your claim with compassion and determination.

The Yost Legal Group – Experienced Attorneys Dedicated to Protecting Your Rights

Experimental Treatments Show Promise and Risk for Cerebral Palsy Patients

Posted on by YostLaw

Children with cerebral palsy have one of several neurological disorders that permanently affect body movement or muscle coordination. The problem is not with the actual muscles; rather, it’s with the part of the brain that controls the muscle movement. Treatments for cerebral palsy include:

  • Physical and occupational therapy
  • Speech therapy
  • Medications aimed at controlling seizures, muscle spasms and pain
  • Braces or orthotic devices
  • Communication aids

Sometimes, surgery is recommended to release tight muscles.

Over the past ten years, a new type of therapy has emerged which uses Botox injections to treat children with a particular type of cerebral palsy involving “spasticity.” Spasticity causes muscle stiffness and tightness that interferes with voluntary movements (like walking). Several videos have surfaced showing young children with cerebral palsy walking for the first time after receiving Botox injections to treat spasticity in their legs.

What the videos don’t show, however, are the risks of using Botox in this “off-label” manner. Doctors routinely prescribe medications for off-label uses, and we want doctors to have the ability to use their knowledge, experience and judgment to decide how best to use a medication for an individual patient.  But doctors must know when a particular use of medication is “off-label,” and doctors must know of the risks associated with such uses.

Pharmaceutical companies are not allowed to market drugs for off-label uses. If a company knows a use is off-label, its representatives are not allowed to pitch that use to doctors as if the use has been cleared by FDA. Likewise, if the manufacturer is aware of risks associated with off-label uses of its products, it should share those risks. Doctors need to know when a use of medication is off-label as well as what potential side effects may exist so that they can assess the risks and benefits of the off-label use with their patients. This is especially true when the patient is a child with cerebral palsy.

A federal jury in Vermont recently decided to hold a large pharmaceutical company responsible for failing to properly share this type information about one of its products in the case of Drake v. Allergan, Inc. The court decided in November to hold Botox manufacturer Allergan responsible for its off-label promotion of Botox when a child suffered epileptic seizures after receiving Botox injections. In this case, the jury determined that Allergan had committed two major violations of Vermont’s consumer protection act. First, by marketing Botox for use in children at unsafe doses; and secondly, by failing to provide doctors and patients with full information about the risks and dangers known to the company.

If your child has experienced any serious medical problems as a result of receiving Botox injections to treat spasticity related to cerebral palsy, you may be entitled to compensation.

Call 1 800 YOST LAW (967-8529) for help.  There is no fee or expense unless you recover.

The Yost Legal Group: Experienced Lawyers Dedicated to Protecting your Rights.

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