Personal Injury Law

Overexposure to Radiation Leads to Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

By Steven M. Levin and John J. Perconti

Radiology errors are a form of systematic hospital mistake that often affects large groups of patients. Over the past few months several large institutions have become embroiled in scandal following similar radiation exposure problems. The issue has occurred in a variety of settings, from a U.S. veteran?s hospital to a local dentist?s offices.

Health Imaging News recently reported on another medical malpractice lawsuit related to radiation. The suit claims that the Cabell Huntington Hospital is responsible for overexposing its CT angiography patients on several occasions. This particular hospital was already been warned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about the dangers of radiation exposure in some of their exams.

The radiation exposure ultimately increases some patients? risk of getting cancers. The risk for some patients of getting these cancers may be 30 to 40 times greater with the high exposure tests compared to the regular tests. It is particularly dangerous in this case, because the exams involved exposure in the head and neck area?locations that have higher probabilities of life-threatening complications.

Besides the medical effects on a patient, the suit also claims that the hospital took steps to cover-up its mistakes. Of course all plans and schemes to hide errors raises a large red flag about the quality of care provided by the facility. If they prioritize fake results above actual care, than all patients should have concern about the treatment they are receiving.

Full post as published by Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog on March 31, 2011 (boomark / email).