A Phillipsburg woman was awarded $2 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit.

A Northampton County Court jury returned a verdict Friday in the case of 71-year-old Pauline Raffaele. Rafaele was admitted to EAston Hospital on June 21, 2005 for a replacement of her left arthritic knee. The day after the surgery Raffaele complained of numbness in her left foot, which she was unable to move. By 3:00 p.m. that day, a rehabilitation doctor was consulted and found that Rafaele's leg was white, and she had no feeling in it. Emergency surgery later revealed an undiagnosed blood clot in the toot.

A month later, doctors had to amputate her leg below the knee. A short while later, doctors were forced to remove more of  her leg, above the knee. 

The jury found the hospital to be 40 percent negligent, and a former nurse named Shelly Benson, to be 60 percent negligent. Benson did not alert doctors to Rafaele's deteriorating condition.

If you or someone you love has been the victim of Philadelphia medical malpractice or negligence, please contact the experienced Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. to learn more about the legal options available to injured patients. Please call 215-238-1130 today.

Verdicts in medical malpractice lawsuits consist of two different types of damages.

Compensatory damages are awarded to cover the financial burden that accompanies an injury. Medical bills, rehabilitation expenses, ambulance bills, prescription costs, nursing care expenses, and the cost of domestic services are commonly covered by compensatory damages. 

Compensatory can also cover non-economic damages. Money can be recovered for the pain and suffering the victim has experienced. Mental and emotional suffering, inconvenience, and loss of enjoyment of life are also covered by compensatory damages.

The second type of damages awarded in a medical malpractice lawsuit are punitive. This is money awarded to a plaintiff in order to punish the offending medical worker or facility in the lawsuit. The goal of punitive damages is to serve as a malpractice deterrence and force medical professionals to take preventative steps to avoid negligence in the future.

If you or a love one have been injured by a negligent medical worker, please contact the experienced Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., by calling 215-238-1130.

A woman in Kansas was awarded $250,000 in damages after a doctor removed the wrong ovary.

28 year-old Amy miller agreed to have her right ovary removed after a doctor told her it would help to relieve the pain she experienced during her menstrual cycles. A few months after the surgery, the pain in Miller's abdomen returned. After meeting with another doctor Miller was given an ultrasound. The test revealed that she still had her right ovary and the first surgeon had removed the wrong one.

Miller filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the surgeon who removed the incorrect ovary. A jury in Douglas County, Kansas awarded Miller $760,000 in damages. District Court Judge Steve Six then reduced the award to $250,000.

If you or a love one have been injured by a negligent medical worker, please contact the experienced Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., by calling 215-238-1130.

A retired Michigan State Police trooper has been awarded a $15 million verdict in a malpractice lawsuit filed against a dentist, periodontist and oral surgeon.

Herta Hopton claimed that oral surgeon Warren Vallerand failed to diagnose cancer in her mouth despite repeated visits. Jurors awarded more than $15 million against Vallerand and the Center for Oral & Facial Surgery. The verdict is the largest dental malpractice award in United States history. 

Hopton received the award on paper only. A Michigan law passed in 1994 caps non-economic damages awarded in malpractice lawsuits at $420,000. Hopton was awarded slightly more than $400,000 in non-economic damages.

Filing a Philadelphia medical malpractice claim cannot undo the pain and suffering you and your family has experienced. However, legal action can help you battle the severe financial losses that victims of medical negligence commonly experience as well as prevent damage to future patients by raising awareness to flaws in a particular hospital's system.

If you or someone you love has been the victim of Philadelphia medical malpractice or negligence, please contact the experienced Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. to learn more about the legal options available to injured patients. Please call 215-238-1130.

A couple in Riverside, California have been awarded a $16.5 million verdict in a medical malpractice case brought against a Palm Springs neurosurgeon.

Following an eight-hour deliberation Friday, a Riverside Superior Court jury found neurosurgeon Christopher Pham negligent in his treatment of Trent Huges in november 2003.

Hughes was injured while off-roading in an all terrain vehicle in 2003. Following the accident, Hughes was transported via helicopter to the Desert Regional Medical Center where Pham was on call. 

Hughes had a fractured spine, but was not seen by a doctor until the next day. He was not operated on for another two days. The resulting injuries left Hughes a paraplegic.

The $16.5 million verdict is compensation for past and future lost earnings, medical costs, and damages for pain and suffering.

If you or someone you love has been the victim of Philadelphia medical malpractice or negligence, please contact the experienced Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. to learn more about the legal options available to injured patients. Please call 215-238-1130 today.

The family of a Texas man who died after an angioplasty procedure has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the hospital where he was treated.

In 2002 Santos Salinas was ordered an angiogram at Valley Baptist Medical Center. The test was suposed to examine Salinas' blood vessels. Instead, the family alleges, Dr. Farley Neasman performed an angioplasty on the man. A surgical procedure that widens a blocked blood vessel.

Attorneys for the Salinas family claim that Santos was killed when he was given the blood thinner Herapin before the procedure. The lawsuit claims that the drug caused Santos to hemorrhage and go into cardiac arrest, which eventually killed him.

The hospital has not released a statement.

If you or someone you love has been the victim of Philadelphia medical malpractice or negligence, please contact the experienced Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. to learn more about the legal options available to injured patients. Please call 215-238-1130 today.