Each year in the United States, millions of individuals suffer preventable injuries due to medical errors. These errors can also attribute to more than 250,000 fatalities on an annual basis.

Recently, CNN released a list of the 10 most shocking medical errors that commonly occur in hospitals. These mistakes include: treating the wrong patient, leaving objects inside a patient during surgery, losing a patient within the facility, performing an operation on the wrong part of the body, and not administering the correct amount of anesthesia.

All of these errors can cause severe harm and death in certain cases. These errors can be avoided if the correct medical precautions are taken when treating a patient. Medical malpractice lawsuits can result if these medical mistakes leave an individual with complications and injuries.

If you have suffered a medical malpractice injury, please contact the medical malpractice lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., by calling 215-238-1130 today.

A woman in Luzerne County has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against her doctors after a combination of different prescription medications left her blind in both eyes.

In 2005, the woman went into the hospital complaining of pain in her knee. It was determined that she had an infection in her right knee prosthetic. Doctors replaced her infected knee prosthetic and prescribed the woman several different types of medication after the procedure.

The combination of these drugs caused her blood pressure to decline, and the blood flow to several different organs was prohibited. As a result of these symptoms, she lost her vision in both eyes. The medical malpractice trial began on Tuesday, and the victim is seeking roughly $50,000 in damages.

Please contact the medical malpractice lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., by calling 215-238-1130 if you or someone you know has suffered from a medical malpractice error.

In 2003, two laws regarding medical malpractice lawsuits were put in place, and since then the number of these suits has fallen drastically.

Pennsylvania malpractice lawyers are now required to acquire a certificate of merit in malpractice suits. Additionally, they are only able to file these suits where the malpractice  actually took place. Since these two laws went into effect, medical malpractice lawsuits have decreased by more than 40 percent.

The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts released the number of medical malpractice lawsuit cases for 2011, and the data shows 1,528 malpractice suits were filed that year in the state. This number is 44.1 percent less than the number of lawsuits that were filed between 2000 and 2002 before the new laws were established.

If you have questions regarding the pursuit of a medical malpractice claim, please contact the medical malpractice lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., by calling 215-238-1130 today.

In 2008, a Philadelphia woman entered the Pottstown Memorial Medical Center claiming she was having complications with her pregnancy. The complications at first were linked to the deprivation of oxygen for the fetus.

An initial ultrasound performed by a physician at the hospital allegedly revealed that the unborn child no longer had a heartbeat. An additional 81 minutes passed, and a second ultrasound showed that the child was actually alive, and a cesarean section immediately took place.

Due to the delayed response of the medical staff, and the inadequate equipment, the child was born with cerebral palsy. The jury in the medical malpractice case determined that the hospital was negligent in this situation and awarded the single mother $78.5 million for damages including future medical expenses and emotional distress.

A study that was published in Health Affairs finds that doctors all over the country are not always telling the complete truth to the patients in their examination rooms.

In fact, 34 percent of the doctors that were surveyed told researchers that they did not feel the need to inform their patients of medical errors that took place during a procedure, regardless of how severe they were. Twenty percent of those doctors listed their main reason for keeping this information a secret as being afraid of having a medical malpractice lawsuit filed against them.

Doctors were also very likely to give patients grave news in a more positive light. According to the results, 55 percent of the physicians would approach a bad situation in a nicer manner than they should in order to avoid devastating their patients.

Please contact the Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. by calling 215-238-1130 if you or someone you know has been negatively affected by a medical malpractice issue.

Officials with the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration recently reopened the National Practitioner Data Bank.  The database of medical malpractice claims and cases was closed to the public in September while new restrictions were put in place.

The public is able to download the database, but now viewers must agree to not identify any entity or medical professional listed in the bank and to make any changes to the file upon request.

Certain healthcare entities like hospitals and licensing boards are able to view the NPDB with identities included.

The changes were made after a journalist was able to connect data from the database to court records and other documents and identify a surgeon involved in a medical malpractice case.

To speak with an experienced attorney about filing a medical malpractice claim, contact the Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. by calling today.

Recently, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics has attracted criticism for a confidentiality clause that is included in many of their medical malpractice settlements.

The clause was brought to attention by District Judge Eliza Ovrom, who initially refused to approve a settlement between the hospital and a patient because the clause contradicts the beliefs of Iowa legislators.  Ovrom later approved the settlement but declared the details of the settlement public record in Iowa stating, “the confidentiality provision does not apply to the state of Iowa”.

The lawsuit stated that the plaintiffs should not release “any of the terms of the settlement of this lawsuit, including but not limited to the amount being paid”.  Critics argue that confidentiality clauses like the ones often used by UIHC are created to protect the hospital and staff from negative publicity, while denying the public the truth.

If you or someone you love has been the victim of hospital negligence, contact the Philadelphia hospital negligence lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. at to learn more about your rights.

Last year, the number of medical malpractice lawsuits naming Pennsylvania doctors and hospitals as defendants were the lowest they have been in a decade.

New medical malpractice legislation took effect in Pennsylvania in 2002.  Since then, malpractice cases in the state have decreased by 45.4 percent.  One component of the new legislation included the requirement of a letter from a medical professional that the lawsuit being filed is not frivolous.

Medical malpractice lawsuits filed in in Philadelphia County decreased by nearly 70 percent over the past 10 years.  Across the state, 1,491 medical malpractice lawsuits were filed in 2010.  1,533 cases were filed in 2009.

If you or someone you love has been the victim of medical malpractice in Philadelphia, contact the Philadelphia medical negligence lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. at and set up an appointment to meet with one of our experienced attorneys.

A jury in California awarded a woman $4.5 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit she brought against a physician who misdiagnosed and mistreated her husband’s heart attack.

According to court documents, a Burbank jury on Wednesday awarded Susanne Whatley-Miller and her two daughters almost $3.5 million in general damages, including pain and suffering, and more than $1 million in economic damages. Susanne’s husband, Thomas Miller, was the director of the Glendale Community Foundation. He died In December 2006 at the age of 51.

The lawsuit was filed against La Canada Flintridge physician Dr. Collin Cooper. According to the complaint, Cooper misdiagnosed Miller’s condition when he came to his office complaining of chest pains. Miller died after Cooper administered a stress test.

If you have lost a loved one as the result of medical malpractice, please contact the Philadelphia medical malpractice attorneys of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., by calling .

A family in New Jersey has been awarded a $8.5 million settlement in a medical malpractice lawsuit.

According to court documents, Emily Ordonez filed the medical malpractice lawsuit against Bayonne Medical Center and three healthcare workers. The lawsuit claims Ordonez went to the hospital at 1:30 a.m. on August 14, 2005 with the beginning signs of labor. The mother’s monitor showed the baby’s heart rate drop from 140 beats per minute to 60 beats per minute.

Records show the labor and delivery nurse waited almost a half hour before calling an obstetrician. He waited another 30 minutes before beginning an emergency C-section.

The lawsuit claims time wasted by hospital staff resulted in brain damage to the infant, Jose, who is prone to seizures, unable to see or walk, and must be fed through a straw.

If you need assistance with a birth injury lawsuit, please contact the Philadelphia Medical Malpractice Lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., by calling .