SPINAL CORD SURGERY MAY LEAD TO MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CASE—CALL OAKLAND LAWYERS (Part 2 of 2)

Medical malpractice cases are lawsuits against doctors who have acted below a certain standard of care and negligently performed in a surgery, or in their regular business routine. In these types of cases, the medical provider would be compared to others in the same field. Depending on the injury that the victim suffered and the field of medicine that the alleged negligence occurred in, the victim’s attorney can use expert testimony to prove to the judge or jury that negligence occurred.

A jury in Florida awarded an injured woman, Amanda Slavin, $38 million for injuries that she suffered as a result of a spinal cord surgery. The lawsuit was against neurosurgeon Mario Nanes, Mount Sinai Hospital and the hospital’s pharmacy management. Nanes operated on Slavin for a herniated disc and injected her with a chemical dye during the surgery to locate the leak. However, the instructions for the dye had been discarded by the hospital’s pharmacy management and the doctor did not read that the dye should not have been used in the particular surgery that Slavin underwent.

After the surgery, Slavin was diagnosed with a neurological disability called arachnoiditis and is bedridden because she gets excruciating pains shooting through her entire body. Nanes has been sued by nine other patients since the 1980s. The Department of Health in 2007 fined Nanes $10,000 for failing to practice medicine at the reasonable level that another physician in the same circumstances and same field would perform. The $10,000 fine was the maximum that the state could fine a doctor for each occurrence. The jury assigned Nanes 68 percent of the responsibility, 18 percent to Mount Sinai and 14 percent to the pharmacy management company.

We know how hard it is to suffer such a serious injury and have to live with the consequences of someone else’s mistake for the rest of your life. We may not be able to go back and change what happened, but we may be able to help you obtain compensation for your injuries and future medical care. Give our attorneys a call at 1-800-252-9776 (1-800-ALAWPRO) for a free consultation. We can help you find out your rights and make sure that your lawsuit is filed properly and on time. Go to our website, www.alawpro.com to read more about spinal injuries and about the verdicts and settlements that our office has won.