Personal Injury Law

Woman Dies In Sacramento Hospital As Result Of Medical Malpractice, Part 3 of 13

By Moseley Collins, Esq.

It is worth noting that situations similar to those described in this medical malpractice case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the area, such as Kaiser Permanente, U.C. Davis Medical Center, Mercy, Sutter, or any skilled nursing facility.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this wrongful death case and its proceedings.)

Ms. Smith was a relatively young (44 years) woman with three minor children who had recovered from her cardiomyopathy. Her previous echo was normal and she was asymptomatic. She did not require continued use of a defibrillator. For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

Use of lasers to extract leads requires experience and judgment to make the determination as to how much pulling to use on a lead, how long to pull on a lead, etc. Dr. Hall had never performed this procedure and Dr. Stephen Lee had only performed it 6-7 times per his deposition. Dr. Hall has responsibility for Ms. Smith's death as captain of the ship . He was monitoring the blood pressure, and he was the surgeon in charge. Per standard of care Dr. Hall should have halted the procedure when complications arose and if necessary obtain cardiology consultation to evaluate the situation and take the proper steps. Continuing the procedure caused the major injury to the vessels which led to Ms. Smith's death. The defendant physicians were not sufficiently experienced to perform this procedure.

Full post as published by Sacramento Injury Lawyer Blog on September 21, 2010 (boomark / email).