More than three years after Michael J. Woods died in an emergencyroom, his brother, actor James Woods has filed a medical negligence lawsuitagainst his brother’s treating physician.

The Oscar-nominated actor is suing on behalf of Michael’s son Peyton. Thelawsuit charges Dr. Kelli A. Naylor with medical negligence, when she failed tonotice obvious warning signs that the 49 year-old former mayoral candidate wasin danger of a fatal heart attack.

Opening statements were delivered in a Kent County Superior Court onMonday. Mark B. Cecof, attorney for James Woods as executor of his brother’sestate, told the jury that they were responsible for finding the truth of whathappened in Kent Hospital between 4:25 p.m, when Michael Woods went in, and7:30 p.m., when he was pronounced dead.

Lawyers for the hospital claimed that when Woods showed up in theemergency room, his symptoms were ambiguous, and even if hospital staff haddiagnosed it sooner and followed proper procedures, Woods still would havedied.

Woods reported to the emergency room shortly before 4:30 p.m.complaining of a sore throat and vomiting. He was sweating profusely and Naylorordered a series of tests. One of them was an electrocardiogram which indicatedan abnormal heartbeat.

Following the test results, all the treatment rooms were full andWoods’ gurney was stationed in the hallway. Cecof said that at the very least,Woods should have been put on a heart monitor.

If you have been the victim of medical malpractice, please contact the Philadelphia Medical Malpractice Attorneys of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. bycalling 215-329-3511.

A California man was awarded $4.34 million in a medical malpracticelawsuit brought against the Veterans Administration Medical Center in West LosAngeles.

U.S.  District Court JudgeGary Allen Feess ruled in favor of 66 year-old Alvin Johnson, in a complaintbrought against the government over the actions of two Veterans Administrationsurgeons who performed Johnson’s October 2005 spinal surgery.

According to court documents, Johnson went to the medical center tohave surgery on a ruptured disc in his back. During the surgery Desalle andShields injected him with Surgifoam, a substance used to absorb excess fluidsin the area of the surgery. Some of the foam, which should have been removed,was left in Johnson’s back and expanded, pressing against his spinal cord. As aresult of the expanded foam, Johnson is now confined to a wheelchair.

Judge Feess said the doctors were told by an associate who took an MRIof Johnson’s back that his spine was compressed, however DeSalle and Shieldstook no action to correct the problem.

The government was found liable for Johnson’s botched spine surgeryand he was awarded $4.34 million in damages.

If you have been the victim of medical malpractice, please contact the Philadelphia Medical Malpractice Attorneys of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. bycalling 215-329-3511.

A jury in Pittsburgh awarded a woman $2,300,000 in a medicalmalpractice verdict.

The Plaintiff, Vita Monestersky sued Uniontown Hospital for medical malpracticeafter the hospital failed to provide her treating physician with blood testresults resulting in a serious infection that would require a completeabdominal hysterectomy on November 11, 2004.

Monestersky went into the hospital on October 28, 2004 for inductionof labor for her second child. She successfully delivered the child and aroutine H&H blood test was administered by her treating OB/GYN. Thelaboratory at Uniontown received a panic white blood count from the test. Theresults were never given to Monestersky’s physician and she was discharged onthe 29^th.

Monestersky’s attorney, Thomas Crenny, argued that the panic whiteblood count was a sign of a Strep A infection. He claimed that the defendant wasnegligent because the hospital lacked proper policies and procedures to providethe test results to the treating physician.

The verdict did not include any special damages for medical bills orlost wages. The entire verdict was for pain & suffering caused by the totalabdominal hysterectomy.

If you have been the victim of medical malpractice, please contact the Philadelphia Medical Malpractice Attorneys of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. bycalling 215-329-3511.

There is only a limited time during which a medicalmalpractice lawsuit may be filed. This is called the statute of limitations.

The statute of limitations is a maximum period of time,after an event, that legal proceedings based on those events may be initiated.  If the statute of limitations in amedical malpractice case runs out, and a party raises this fact as a defense,and that defense is accepted, any further litigation is foreclosed.

Different than criminal offenses, the statute of limitationsfor medical malpractice claims begins, not when the mistake is committed, butwhen the harm is discovered. This means if you have been the victim of medicalmalpractice, and have only recently discovered the damage done to you, thestatute of limitations may not have expired.

If you or a loved one has been the victim of medicalmalpractice, please contact the Philadelphia Medical Malpractice Attorneys ofLowenthal & Abrams, P.C. by calling 215-329-3511. 

In November 2006 an arbitration panel in Las Vegas awardedClark County resident Kathleen Johnson-Dinsmore close to $5.75 million.

When Dinsmore went in for surger at the Southwest MedicalAssociates, an anesthesiologist, Vincent Scott Collins, administered a generalanesthetic before performing the operation. That same day Collins was founddead in the facility’s men’s restroom. His body was discovered with a syringein his arm. The coroner ruled his death was the result of acute drugintoxication. Collins had died after injecting himself with a lethal dose offentanyl, the same drug he administered to Dinsmore earlier that day.

Dinsmore alleged in a lawsuit, that Collins was under theinfluence of the drug when he administered the fentanyl before surgery.

“He basically savaged her” a lawyer for Dinsmore said in thehearing.

According to court documents, Collins repeatedly prickedDinsmore with the syringe before he was able to locate a suitable vein.Dinsmore was subsequently diagnosed with reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome,a condition characterized by damaged nerves, burning pain, tenderness andswelling.

Dinsmore was awarded a $5.75 million verdict.

If you or a loved one has been the victim of medicalmalpractice, please contact the Philadelphia Medical Malpractice Attorneys ofLowenthal & Abrams, P.C. by calling 215-329-3511.