Medical malpractice occurs when healthcare givers act irresponsibly, causing their patient injury or death. Because even small acts of negligence can attract a lawsuit, up to 21,000 medical malpractice lawsuits are done every year. Here are some infamous medical malpractice cases in the history of the United States.
A Florida court in 2006 awarded Mr. Allan Navarro $216.7 million following a misdiagnosis. Mr. Navarro had presented with stroke symptoms (nausea, double vision, and dizziness), but doctors at the Tampa University Community misdiagnosed them for a headache. Consequently, Mr. Navarro went into a coma for three months and used a wheelchair due to a brain injury.
Some, like forgotten apparatus in the body, wrong organ removal, or limb amputation, are considered “never events” because they are not supposed to happen. In 2007, Neurosurgeons at Rhode Island Hospital hit the headlines for performing three surgeries on the wrong sites on three patients. Two incidents were caught in time and addressed. One was fatal.
In West Los Angeles VA Medical Center, surgeons mistakenly removed the right, healthy testicle of Mr. Houghton, an Air Force veteran. The VA Medical Center paid out $200,000 in damages. In another seemingly “never event,” Mr. Willie King had the wrong leg amputated. It was later discovered that even the wrong leg was unhealthy, and Mr. King would have lost both legs.
In 1998, EMTs were called to the home of 12-year-old Ms. Tiffany Applegate after she went into anaphylactic shock. They arrived without the necessary medical equipment, so they called for another ambulance. Ms. Applegate’s mother insisted on taking her to a nearby hospital, but the paramedics instructed her to await another ambulance. By the time she got to the hospital, it was too late.
Ms. Applegate suffered major brain damage. Her family brought a malpractice lawsuit against the state of New York. The case was dismissed because New York City could not be held liable. However, it was later found that the EMTs owed Ms. Applegate a duty of care to help her. She was awarded $135 million in personal injury damages, the highest in New York.
Most medical malpractices are unintentional. Some, however, are intentional, like the one involving Dr. Nikita Levy, the infamous Creepy Doctor who cost John Hopkins Hospital $190 million in damages. It was found that for over 25 years, Dr. Levy, a gynecologist, and obstetrician, had secretly recorded women during pelvic exams using a pen camera.
In most cases, it starts with a “harmless’ error, like an incorrect entry of patient information, which produces a chain of mistakes that lead to a serious medical error. For instance, in Mr. King’s case, those who prepared him misled the surgeon to amputate the wrong leg. Everywhere, including the operating room procedure, the hospital’s computer system, and the operating room blackboard, had the wrong leg listed.
In 2021, $20 billion was paid out in damages. And, as high as 21,000 medical malpractice lawsuits may sound, only five percent of medical malpractice-related deaths result in payouts. Most medical malpractice incidents go unprosecuted. So, medical malpractice is under-litigated despite the seemingly excessive malpractice suits and the negative attention.
Medical malpractice cases are hard to win, as defendants (hospitals or doctors) win the majority (up to 70 percent) of cases that go to trial. The reason is that the best attorneys represent doctors and hospitals. So, if you suspect you have a medical malpractice-related injury and want to bring a lawsuit, you need to hire an experienced personal injury attorney.
