Houston Medical Malpractice Law Blog

A delayed diagnosis of amyloidosis could put your life at risk

On behalf of Steven Davis of Davis & Davis, Attorneys at Law on Thursday, October 17, 2019.

When you don't feel well, you may put off going to the doctor in the hopes that whatever it is will go away. However, when it doesn't, you go to see a doctor to find out what's wrong and get help.

In some cases, your symptoms lead to a clear diagnosis and a course of treatment that makes you feel better within a few days. In other cases, your symptoms could lead to different diagnoses, and you rely on the persistence and skills of your doctor to reach the right one in order to get your treatment started as quickly as possible. The problem is that some doctors fail to take the appropriate steps within time to make a difference.

A C-section may be medically necessary

On behalf of Steven Davis of Davis & Davis, Attorneys at Law posted in Birth Injuries on Thursday, October 17, 2019.

A previous post on this blog talked about a major medical malpractice verdict awarded to a woman who was 16 at the time she gave birth. She successfully claimed that her providers should have proceeded with a Cesarean Section, or surgical birth, when her baby showed signs of distress in the womb.

Doctors for the hospital, on the other hand, have a different version of events and say that the woman refused to have a C-Section.

Thiamine deficiency can cause serious problems for Texas patients

On behalf of Steven Davis of Davis & Davis, Attorneys at Law on Saturday, October 12, 2019.

When you go to the doctor, you probably assume that you are going to get quality care. Maybe you need to find out why you are experiencing certain symptoms, or perhaps you need treatment for a specific medical concern you have. Regardless, you expect that your Texas doctor will find the right care plan for you and help you take whatever steps are necessary to pursue a high level of health.

Unfortunately, this does not always happen. In fact, doctors often fail to find the right diagnosis, and this can lead to serious harm for patients. One thing that medical professionals often overlook is a thiamine deficiency, which can lead to various types of health problems. If your doctor failed to give you the right diagnosis and you suffered additional harm because of this issue, you may have grounds for a legal claim.

How can improper positioning cause a death?

On behalf of Steven Davis of Davis & Davis, Attorneys at Law posted in Wrongful Death on Thursday, October 10, 2019.

Doctors, nurses and other medical professionals who take care of patients in hospitals and nursing homes receive special training on how to make sure a patient is properly positioned in her bed.

While this may seem like just a matter of keeping a patient comfortable, making sure a patient is safely and properly resting in a bed is actually critically important to his health. Improper positioning can cause an untimely death, particularly in an elderly or especially ill patient who may have a difficult time swallowing.

Record malpractice jury award reduced; still over $200 million

On behalf of Steven Davis of Davis & Davis, Attorneys at Law posted in Birth Injuries on Thursday, October 3, 2019.

A judge in another state recently reduced a jury award that reports had described as a record high verdict in a medical malpractice case. The reduction came because the state has legal caps on medical malpractice awards, specifically with respect to awards for pain and suffering and other non-economic damages. Still, the total judgment against the medical facility exceeds $200 million. It had been close to $230 million.

The jury award arose in the context of a birth injury case. A 16-year-old mother's child was born with cerebral palsy after a difficult labor and delivery. The baby, who now requires constant nursing care and cannot live with the mother, suffered a severe brain injury during the birth.

Personality problems after brain injuries can be serious

On behalf of Steven Davis of Davis & Davis, Attorneys at Law posted in Brain Injuries on Thursday, September 26, 2019.

Our brains affect all aspects of our lives, including those in Texas. From doing basic life functions, like breathing or eating, all the way to doing advanced thinking, the brain is always involved. Likewise, the brain has a significant role in the way people respond emotionally to situations and think through moral and ethical problems. The brain can even be thought of as the center of one's personality.

So, it is not surprising that after brain injuries, many victims in the Houston area, as well as their families, friends and acquaintances, will notice how the injury affects the victim's behavior and personality. For example, someone who has suffered damage to his or her frontal lobe may show increased impulsivity and aggression. This is because the frontal lobe allows people to sort out good ideas from bad ideas, rather than operate on instinct or on whatever emotion a person is feeling at the time.

Some lawmakers fighting to allow troops to sue for malpractice

On behalf of Steven Davis of Davis & Davis, Attorneys at Law posted in Surgical Errors on Thursday, September 19, 2019.

The United States Senate is currently considering a bill that would allow members of the military to sue their military doctors and medical professionals, should they commit medical malpractice, including those in Texas. At this time, under court precedent, troops must resort to VA benefits or other programs in order to get compensation for accidents while on duty, including medical negligence.

The new measure is running in to some opposition. Proponents say that, as a matter of fairness, soldiers who are victims of medical malpractice should not get shutout of court just because their doctors happen to be military themselves.

If not caught in time, Wernicke's Encephalopathy only gets worse

On behalf of Steven Davis of Davis & Davis, Attorneys at Law on Saturday, September 14, 2019.

You may have learned about scurvy in a history class somewhere in your educational journey. This vitamin C deficiency can cause a host of health problems, but one can easily avoid it by eating citrus fruits or otherwise getting enough vitamin C in your diet. These days, you don't see scurvy much, if at all, in this country, but it does stress the vital importance of vitamins in your diet.

Another crucial vitamin you need in your diet is vitamin B1, or thiamine. Most people get enough of this one through the food they eat as well. If you look at just about any cereal box in your home, you will find it fortified with vitamin B1. If you are deficient in this vitamin, the cure is as simple as eating food containing it or receiving an injection of it from a doctor. However, if your condition goes unchecked, you could develop serious health issues.

Failure to diagnose most common reason for med mal claims

On behalf of Steven Davis of Davis & Davis, Attorneys at Law posted in Failure to Diagnose on Thursday, September 12, 2019.

According to a medical website, failure to diagnose or delayed diagnosis remains far and away the most common mistake the medical professionals make that leads to a patient filing a lawsuit. The reason a misdiagnosis can so easily give rise to lawsuits is that the results of bad medical advice can be deadly.

Even if the patient does not undergo an unnecessary or harmful treatment, which in of itself can be problematic, the patient could still lose critical time that he or she otherwise have had to get the proper, and possibility lifesaving, help he or she needed. Behind misdiagnoses, injuries or complications from childbirth also lead to a lot of patient lawsuits.

Common anesthesia errors that may require legal action

On behalf of Steven Davis of Davis & Davis, Attorneys at Law posted in Wrongful Death on Thursday, September 5, 2019.

Many Texans who have even relatively minor operations will probably require anesthesia. Whether they are rendered unconscious during their procedures or are given localized pain medicine, anesthesia is an important part of many surgeries.

Administering anesthesia requires the anesthesiologist, the doctor in charge of the anesthesia and her team to exercise utmost skill and care when giving this often very potent medicine to patients. Moreover, the doctor must often carefully insert a breathing or other tube into the patient if the patient's breathing will be slowed. Likewise, they are usually responsible for administering IV's and other intravenous drugs.