Malpractice Consult

Stone embedded in bladder wall, causing slow bleed

A urologist should have been consulted, an expert for the plaintiff said.

"The urologist contended that, at all times, he was willing to undergo any training program that the manufacturer or distributor recommended and that he used the microwave device at all times exactly as instructed by the proctor and by the literature given to him," writes Acacia Brush Perko, Esq.

"Following an adverse liability verdict, this defendant urologist did not also want the jury deciding damages," writes Acacia Brush Perko, Esq.

"The expert testified that the standard of care after penile prosthesis surgery is to leave the implant in a semi-inflated state for 4 to 6 weeks, when in fact the standard is to keep the implant in a deflated state," writes Brianne Goodwin, JD, RN.

Here are the six most-read "Malpractice Consult" columns of 2019 from Brianne Goodwin, JD, RN, and Acacia Brush Perko, Esq.

"Most people do not wish for their actions to be judged in hindsight; rather, if we are going to be judged, we want to be judged based on what we knew at the time," writes Acacia Brush Perko, Esq.

"The plaintiff alleged that she notified the urologist of her continuing pain and was told there was nothing wrong," writes Brianne Goodwin, JD, RN.

"In this case, a key component to the defense verdict was the fact that the defendants were able to provide convincing expert testimony regarding the outcome of the decedent’s situation if the diagnosis had been tendered earlier, as argued by the plaintiff," writes Acacia Brush Perko, Esq.

The court found that treatment performance was below the standard of care.

"The defense claimed that the patient’s kidney function was intact at the time of the CT scan and that the patient failed to follow up with his urologist," writes Acacia Brush Perko, Esq.

"Based on their lines of questioning, it was apparent the defendant’s attorney wanted me to sit on the jury and the plaintiff’s attorney did not," writes Urology Times Content Channel Director Richard R. Kerr.

"It is prudent for providers to know the law of the jurisdiction where they practice and any applicable policies surrounding consult and documentation," advises Brianne Goodwin, JD, RN.

A pathologist and three urologists were accused of negligence in the lawsuit.

"As the primary witnesses for the defense, [the treating physicians] did not build credibility, were not likable, and did not take any responsibility for the medical care of the claimant," writes Brianne Goodwin, JD, RN.

"Where other indicators of medical malpractice claims have decreased over the years, the prevalence of diagnostic error has not changed, calling for more innovating thinking, introspection, and systematic approaches to prevention and shared learning," writes Brianne Goodwin, JD, RN.

"The expert concluded that… had a urologist been consulted, additional attempts at placing a Foley catheter using a guidewire would have been made in an effort to relieve the retention," writes Acacia Brush Perko, Esq.

"The plaintiff claimed the decedent’s cancer should have been diagnosed by the original urologist at least 3 years before the actual diagnosis, and claimed that timely diagnosis and treatment would have prevented the spread of the cancer," writes Acacia Brush Perko, Esq.

"A patient’s success on a claim of injury based on intraoperative positioning would likely be based on a negligence theory, or potentially a lack of informed consent theory," writes Brianne Goodwin, JD, RN.

A tumor in a stone patient results in a $4.5 million settlement.

"The factual question presented to the jury was whether the ER doctor breached the standard of care and whether that breach proximately caused the plaintiff’s injury," writes Acacia Brush Perko, Esq.

Failure to provide an interpreter incurs legal and regulatory risk.

Here’s what to do when a patient disregards medical advice.

"In an Ohio medical malpractice claim, the plaintiff must prove by a preponderance of the evidence the existence of a standard of care within the medical community, a breach of that standard of care by the defendants, and proximate cause between the medical negligence and the injury sustained," writes Acacia Brush Perko, Esq.

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"At trial, the urology expert testified that the defendant urologist failed to offer the patient alternative treatments before proceeding with the drastic option of removing the testicle," writes Dawn Collins, JD.

Optimize patient identification by following these steps.

The plaintiff claimed that the urologist should have performed TURP.

The urologist argued that he did obtain informed consent to the injection treatment, noting that the patient had signed a document that explained that scars were a possible outcome.

"Given the costs of defense and the challenge to defend lawsuits involving [retained surgical items], preventing them from occurring at all is the best solution," writes Brianne Goodwin, JD, RN.