North Carolina Injury Lawyer Blog

Cherry Hospital in Goldsboro, North Carolina continues to make headlines, following the arrest of two of its workers on Friday for allegedly beating a patient.

Health care technicians William Kenneth Johnson and Taniko Dominique Upton face charges of assault and battery of a handicapped person. Uton allegedly struck a male patient in the stomach, head, and side, as well as knocked him to the ground. Johnson is accused of holding down the patient during Upton’s assault before joining in the beating, which took place at the mental hospital.

Three other Cherry Hospital workers have recently been arrested. In March, Vincent Morton was charged with felony assault and battery of a handicapped person after he allegedly put his hands around a patient’s neck before hitting him on the head.

Richard John Percival II was arrested on a misdemeanor charge after hitting a patient’s head and body. The charge was dropped when the patient refused to testify against Percival.

Tonivia Bryant was charged with felony assault of a handicapped person after she allegedly hit a patient, who was strapped down, 11 times. The charges against her were also dropped.

Cherry Hospital has come under close scrutiny following video footage showing workers at the mental hospital ignoring a patient seated on a chair for over 22 hours. The patient, 50-year-old Steven Sabock, died soon after.

If you or your loved one was the victim of abuse at a nursing home, a mental hospital, or another care or medical facility in North Carolina, you may be entitled to receive compensation from the facility and/or the abusers. Hospitals and residential care facilities are supposed to make sure that their employees are properly trained to care for their patients or residents and that staff members will not likely harm or neglect the people placed in their care. An experienced North Carolina personal injury law firm can investigate your case for you and determine whether you have grounds to file a nursing home abuse, medical malpractice, or another kind of injury case.

Two workers accused of beating mental patient, Charlotte.com, August 23, 2008

Cherry Hospital workers accused of beating patient, WRAL.com, August 23, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Cherry Hospital

Patient Bill of RIghts, DukeHealth.org

Continue reading "Cherry Hospital Employees Arrested for Allegedly Beating a Patient in Goldsboro, North Carolina" »

Posted by Michael A. DeMayo | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Medical Malpractice , Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect

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An investigative report found that the nurses at Cherry Hospital, a mental hospital in Goldsboro, North Carolina, failed to feed or help patient Steven H. Sabock, 50, while he sat in a chair for over 22 hours last April. He died the next day of a heart ailment.

Security footage of the hospital shows a nurse standing nearby and not doing anything to help Sabock, while he choked on his medicine. The footage also shows health care technicians playing cards, watching TV, and talking on the cell phone in the same room where Sabock was sitting. He reportedly sat in a chair located in the day room through four work shifts.

Throughout that time, no one gave Sabock food or helped him to the bathroom. Instructions by a doctor to give him fluids every two hours and monitor his vitals every six hours also appear to have been ignored.

Eventually, technicians stood Sabock up, pushed a chair under him, and took him to his bedroom. The footage shows emergency equipment being carted down the hall five minutes later.

Investigators say that Sabock did not eat anything on the day that he died and even though he was eating very little on the three days leading up to his death, a nutritional consult or physician exam did not take place.

Sabock’s father, Nicholas, says that during an attempted visit to see his son at Cherry Hospital, staffers turned him away. Sabock’s wife also says that the state of North Carolina sent her a letter reporting “major negligence” in the care the hospital provided to him.

Medical Malpractice
Patients are admitted to mental hospitals because they require specialized attention and care. When failure to provide that care results in injury or death, the hospital, doctors, nurses, or other staffers can be held liable for personal injury or wrongful death.

Our North Carolina medical malpractice lawyers represent clients whose loved ones were injured or killed because of the negligent actions of a doctor, a nurse, a hospital, or another medical provider.

In North Carolina, you have three years from the date of when the medical malpractice action caused injury or death, or one year from when the injury was (or should have been) found out to file a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Patient dies after waiting 22 hours at hospital, Chicago Sun-Times, August 20, 2008

Nurses ignored patient as he died, CharlotteObserver.com, August 20, 2008

Related Web Resource:

Cherry Hospital, Goldsboro

Types of Medical Malpractice, WrongDiagnosis.com

Continue reading "North Carolina Nurses at Goldsboro Mental Hospital Hugged and Danced While Patient Sat in Chair for Over 22 Hours Before Dying, Says Report" »

Posted by Michael A. DeMayo | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Medical Malpractice

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In Durham County Superior Court, 18 patients who underwent surgeries at Duke hospitals in 2004 are suing Duke University Health System for personal injury because they were operated on with surgical instruments that were washed in hydraulic fluid. The plaintiffs are alleging fraud and negligence because of the exposure to the fluid, which had been used to clean an elevator. They are seeking compensatory and punitive damages for an undisclosed amount.

Over 3,600 patients at Duke Raleigh and Durham Regional hospitals in North Carolina underwent operations in November and December 2004 involving the use of the tainted instruments. The surgical tools were accidentally cleaned with hydraulic fluid after elevator repairmen drained the fluid and placed them in empty detergent drums. The drums were then sent back to the hospitals where they were used to clean the instruments. Duke has already settled claims by over 60 patients that say they suffered personal injury because of the fluid.

Some Duke patients claim they sustained infections and immune system reactions as a result of their injuries. Last month, 67 patients sued Cardinal Health and Steris Corp., the companies that provide Duke with sterilization equipment, for personal injury related to their role in the fluid mix-up.

Hospitals, doctors, surgeons, nurses, and all other health care providers are supposed to provide patients with the proper medical care in an environment that is clean and safe. Failure to provide these duties of care can lead to personal injuries with plaintiffs filing medical malpractice lawsuits.

Other common medical errors include:

• Surgical mistakes
• Wrong diagnosis
• Administering the wrong tests
• Delayed diagnosis
• Nursing negligence

In North Carolina and South Carolina, our medical malpractice lawyers can help you assess whether you have grounds for an injury claim or lawsuit.

Patients sue Duke over tainted tools, Charlotte.com, July 2, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Duke University Health System

Hydraulic Fluid Facts

Continue reading "18 More North Carolina Patients Exposed to Tainted Surgical Tools Sue Duke University Health System for Personal Injury" »

Posted by Michael A. DeMayo | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Medical Malpractice

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An incident that occurred in a New York hospital waiting room last month made national headlines yesterday after surveillance footage was released showing a 49-year-old woman collapsing at Kings County Hospital Center while workers at the hospital ignored her.

Esme Green was involuntarily admitted to the hospital’s psychiatric emergency department on June 18 for “agitation and psychosis.” According to the New York Civil Liberties Union, however, Green was made to wait almost 24 hours for treatment. The group is also accusing the hospital of falsifying records to conceal the duration of time Green was on the floor unattended.

The video footage shows Green, on June 19 at 5:30 am, rolling off a chair in the waiting room and landing on the floor face-down while convulsing. She stopped moving a little over half an hour later. Hospital workers are seen ignoring her the entire time. It isn’t until around 6:35 am that the footage shows a worker nudging Green with her foot. Help was called for about three minutes later.

The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation has expressed shock and distress about the incident and they terminated six workers following a preliminary investigation.

In an unrelated case, Mental Hygiene Legal Service and the New York Civil Liberties Union sued the hospital in Federal court last year because of allegedly filthy conditions at the hospital. The plaintiffs reported that patients were frequently forced to sleep on floors and chairs covered with blood, urine, and feces when waiting for beds. They lawsuit also alleged physical abuse and use of medication to keep patients calm.

If there is evidence that a hospital, a doctor, or a health care provider acted negligently or carelessly to cause your loved one’s death, you may be entitled to wrongful death recovery for your loss. In North Carolina and South Carolina, our wrongful death law firm can assist you.

Tape shows woman dying on waiting room floor, CNN.com, July 1, 2008

Investigators probe death of woman in Brooklyn hospital, Newsday.com

Related Web Resources:

Times acquires tape excerpts showing King-Harbor staff ignoring dying patient, Los Angeles Times, July 2, 2008

Kings County Hospital Center

New York Civil Liberties Union

Continue reading "Video Footage Shows Woman Dying in Hospital Waiting Room While Workers Ignore Her" »

Posted by Michael A. DeMayo | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Medical Malpractice

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The North Carolina Medical Board wants doctors in the state to list online any medical malpractice settlements that they’ve been involved in. Data would include the doctor’s name and the settlement—although the amount of the settlement would not be published. The doctor would also be given the option of posting an explanation for the settlement. The information would remain on the doctor’s profile for seven years.

North Carolina Doctor groups have expressed concern that while they agree that medical malpractice verdicts or notice about whether a doctor has had his practicing privileges revoked should be made available to the public, they don’t think that information about medical malpractice settlements should be published.

North Carolina Medical Society President Dr. Hadley Callaway has suggested that the board investigate the legal settlements first—and if substandard care is proven, then only then should the settlements be listed.

He says that doctors may want a chance to make their case before the NCMB and that just because they settled doesn’t mean they provided poor medical care. Callaway expressed concern that listing explanations for settlements could sound like the doctors were making excuses.

Allowing settlement information to be available to the public could also lead to more lawsuits going forward because doctors may be less willing to settle any medical malpractice claims.

Another doctor, North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians Christopher Snyder says that this proposed rule is unfair. He says that some doctors choose to settle because of pressure from insurance companies and not because they have done anything wrong. However, it is ultimately up to the NCMB to decide whether the information will be posted.

If you have been seriously injured because a hospital, a doctor, or another health care provider was negligent or careless when providing you with medical care, contact our North Carolina medical malpractice law firm to discuss your case.

N.C. Medical Board may put malpractice settlement info online, Triangle Business Journal, April 25, 2008

Malpractice Settlement Data Could Go Online in North Carolina, IHealthBeat.org, May 5, 2008

Related Web Resource:

North Carolina Medical Board

Continue reading "North Carolina Doctor Groups and N.C. Medical Board Disagree on Whether Medical Malpractice Settlements Should Be Made Public " »

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Posted In: Medical Malpractice

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Amy Yasbeck, the wife of late actor John Ritter, resumed her testimony today in the wrongful death trial against the two doctors who treated her husband before his death. Yasbeck and Ritter’s children are suing radiologist Matthew Lotysch and cardiologist Joseph Lee for $67 million. Ritter died in 2003 from a torn aorta.

The Ritter family is accusing both doctors of failing to diagnose and provide the proper medical care for Ritter that could have saved his life. They say that Lotysch failed to detect an enlarged aorta during a 2001 scan and that Lee made a fatal error when he treated the actor for a heart attack instead of an aortic dissection on the day that he arrived at the emergency room in 2003.

Lotysch disputes their claim. During his testimony last week, he said that he told Ritter that the actor should see a specialist because he had triple vessel coronary disease. He also says that Ritter’s aorta looked normal at the time of the scan. Yasbeck claims that Ritter believed the scan results showed that he was in good health.

On Friday, jury members heard a voice message that Ritter left for his wife telling her that he was going to seek medical attention for what he believed was food poisoning. He died in the emergency room later that day.

Henry Winkler, Ritter’s friend, and Katey Segal, his co-star on the show "8 Simple Rules ... for Dating My Teenage Daughter,” also submitted their testimonies on behalf of the plaintiffs. The show was considered a hit and Ritter’s family believes he would have made over $67 million if he had continued to appear on the show had he lived.

Ritter was a beloved film and television actor who also starred in the hit TV show "Three’s Company." He died on September 11, 2003 at age 54.

Failure to diagnose, wrongful diagnosis, delayed diagnosis, providing a patient with the wrong medical treatment, surgical errors, and prescription errors are all too common forms of medical malpractice.

If you believe that you have been the victim of a medical error by a doctor, a nurse, or another medical provider In North Carolina or South Carolina, one of our medical malpractice attorneys can meet with you to discuss your case.

John Ritter's widow, ex-wife testify in wrongful-death lawsuit, USA Today, March 3, 2008

Ritter Speaks at Wrongful-Death Trial, EOnline, February 29, 2008

Winkler testifies at Ritter trial, Los Angeles Times, February 14, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Actor John Ritter dead at 54, CNN.com, September 12, 2003

John Ritter, IMDB.com

Continue reading "John Ritter’s Wife Actress Amy Yasbeck Testifies During Wrongful Death Trial" »

Posted by Michael A. DeMayo | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Medical Malpractice , Wrongful Death

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In North Carolina, the parents of Larry D. Green, the man who Franklin County medical officers wrongly declared dead in January 2005, have filed a personal injury lawsuit against Franklin County’s medical examiner, Franklin County Emergency Medical Services, the emergency responders who were at Green’s pedestrian accident scene, Louisburg Rescue, and EMS.

Green, now 31, was critically injured in Louisburg in January 2005 when he was hit by a motor vehicle while walking across U.S. 401 north. He was declared dead, placed in a body bag, and sent to a morgue. It wasn’t until after his body had been at the morgue for over two hours that the coroner realized that Green was alive.

The lawsuit, filed by Green’s parents, Larry Alston and Ruby Kelly, alleges that medical officials did not properly check Green’s vital signs and that he would not have sustained permanent injuries if they had done their job correctly. Green’s mother, Ruby Kelly, says that she sustained emotional trauma after seeing the crash scene and believing that her son was dead.

Green was in the hospital for two months. Injuries included a serious head injury and leg injuries. It wasn’t until five months after the accident that he started to talk again. Green now resides in a Wilson nursing home, and he may never fully recover from his injuries.

Last month, J.B. Perdue, the Franklin County medical examiner named in the lawsuit, stated that pronouncing a person dead is not part of his job. He said his responsibilities are to investigate the cause of death.

The lawsuit says that Perdue saw Green’s eye twitching and chest moving at the morgue but did not make sure Green was dead before starting his forensic evaluation.

Green’s family is accusing emergency medical technicians and paramedics of not following policy in their handling of Green. Medics admit that they did not use a stethoscope or electrocardiogram monitor to make sure that Green was dead after failing to detect a pulse or breath.

If you or someone you love was injured because of medical malpractice or negligence, you must contact a personal injury lawyer immediately.

Death blunder draws lawsuit, The News & Observer.com, December 28, 2007

Family Of North Carolina Man Mistakenly Declared Dead Files Suit, All Headlines, December 28, 2007

After body bag, life goes on, The News & Observer.com, January 24, 2007

Related Web Resource:

No further state action warranted against Franklin County EMS personnel, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, February 9, 2005

Continue reading "Parents of North Carolina Man Sue Franklin County Medical Officers for Son’s Wrongly Declared Death" »

Posted by Michael A. DeMayo | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Medical Malpractice , Personal Injury

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A CNN.com article published on Saturday lists five diseases that are commonly misdiagnosed by doctors:

1) Aortic dissection
2) Clogged arteries
3) Cancer
4) Infections
5) Heart attacks

The article offers suggestions that patients can use to empower themselves from being the victim of misdiagnosis, including:

1) Request additional tests
2) Ask yourself if your symptoms could be indicative of a different illness than what your doctor has diagnosed
3) Make sure that you follow up on test results—your doctor may have forgotten about your tests

Misdiagnosing a patient’s illness can lead to serious injuries, health problems, and even wrongful death. Misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose, and delayed diagnosis are just a few of the many kinds of medical errors that a medical caregiver can make. When a patient becomes even more ill or dies as a result of a medical error, the injured patient or his or her surviving family members may have grounds to file a medical malpractice lawsuit against any negligent parties.

In North Carolina, the statute of limitations for filing a medical malpractice lawsuit is either three years from the time that medical malpractice incident occurred or one year from the time that the injury or death caused by medical malpractice was discovered. A lawsuit cannot be filed, however, more than four years from the time the medical malpractice incident, which led to the injuries or death, took place.

Other kinds of common medical malpractice errors can include surgical errors, failure to obtain informed consent from a patient, negligence, failure to property monitor a patient’s vital statistics, lab errors, prescription errors, and other errors by primary care physicians, nurses, dentists, orthodontists, hospitals, hospital workers, and other medical providers.

If you or someone you love is seriously injured or killed because of a medical error, you should speak with a medical malpractice lawyer right away. Medical care providers are required to fulfill a certain standard of care when treating patients. When that standard of care is not fulfilled and a person is seriously injured or dies because of this negligence, you need an experienced medical malpractice lawyer working for you that knows how to thoroughly investigate and prove your case.

You are entitled to compensation for your injuries or loss, pain and suffering, and any related damages, including loss of work, lost income, permanent disability, medical costs, future medical care, and loss of enjoyment of life.

Five commonly misdiagnosed diseases, CNN.com, September 29, 2007

Related Web Resources:

Medical Malpractice in North Carolina: Medical Malpractice, Wrongdiagnosis.com

Wrongdiagnosis.com

Medical Malpractice, Insurance Information Institute

Continue reading "Five Diseases that are Frequently Misdiagnosed and North Carolina's Medical Malpractice Statute of Limitations" »

Posted by Michael A. DeMayo | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Medical Malpractice

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