Louisville Medical Malpractice & Personal Injury Law Blog

When we are sick, we visit a doctor trusting that he or she will properly diagnose what is wrong so that we can get better, not worse. But all too often, failure to diagnose an illness or disease causes serious injuries in unsuspecting patients.

Take the case of the 7-year-old boy who lost his vision and nearly lost his life after his doctor allegedly missed signs of bacterial meningitis. In the wake of the tragedy, the boy's family has brought a medical malpractice suit against the doctor for damages.

Sleep apnea, a condition that is more common in overweight people, may be the cause of many trucking accidents because it causes drivers to be drowsy during the daytime, a federal regulatory agency concluded.

Information on sleep apnea from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's web page details the dangers of sleep apnea. The condition causes the afflicted person to have periods of shallow breathing or a pause in breathing while sleeping. Disturbance in sleep then leads to drowsiness during the day, which is very dangerous when paired with tractor trailers.

Following accidents that are caused by negligence, victims are often able to bring personal injury lawsuits against the liable parties. There are many types of personal injury cases, including medical malpractice and products liability.

Recently, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported that the Louisville Metro Government paid out $150,000 this month in seven personal injury claims brought by people who were injured in the 2009 zoo train derailment.

According to studies, including one by a professor at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, steroid shots are now the most common way neck and back pain is treated in the United States.

However, problems such as paralysis and death are some of the complications being linked to the increased use of epidurals, which has prompted the Food and Drug Administration to review safety guidelines for the steroid injections.

Over the weekend, a major Swiss pharmaceutical company recalled four popular over-the-counter drugs after getting reports that a plant malfunctioned, possibly contaminating the drugs.

Novartis AG released a statement about the recall on Sunday, saying that the manufacturing defect occurred at a plant in the United States and involved drugs sold around the country. The potentially dangerous products are Excedrin, NoDoz, Bufferin and Gas-X Prevention, the company said.

Going under the knife is a scary thing. You are putting your life completely in the hands of someone else, trusting that nothing will go awry. Unfortunately, surgical errors are more common than we would like to think in Kentucky and elsewhere, and can lead to serious complications.

Luckily for one patient who was accidently given a paralytic instead of spinal anesthesia before surgery, there don't appear to be any permanent damages. This week, it was reported that a nurse anesthetist at a Minneapolis hospital accidentally administered the erroneous dose to the female patient while preparing her for surgery.

We have all heard about the dangers of distracted driving. But computers, smartphones and other handheld electronic devices appear to be causing distraction in other important places as well: hospitals.

According to new reports, "distracted doctoring" is a serious issue that could result in medical malpractice. For example, a recent article in The New York Times cited a poll finding that half of hospital technicians admitted to texting while operating bypass machines.

Delivery doctors have one of the most important jobs in the world. We trust obstetricians to use their judgment and skills to bring precious new lives into the world. However, sometimes these doctors in Kentucky and elsewhere should not be trusted at all.

Recently, a Tennessee delivery doctor was accused of obstetric malpractice in a lawsuit filed by a mother on behalf of her son. The baby, who is now a toddler, was born June 13, 2009 and had an irregular heartbeat along with gasping breaths.