Medical malpractice attorneys at Pintas & Mullins Law Firm report on a recent malpractice case that recently concluded in a $2.85 million jury award to a plaintiff in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The plaintiff sued his orthopedic surgeon after a delay in surgery left him paralyzed.
The jury determined that the orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Wayne Bauerle, negligently sent the patient to receive a CAT scan despite his unstable vital signs. The patient, Randy Green, was in a pre-operative holding area at Grand Station Regional Medical Center when the incident occurred. Green also received a confidential settlement with Grand Station.
Green was involved in a severe auto accident in 2004, after which he was taken to Grand Station to treat severed arteries in his forearm. He was to undergo surgery in order to stop the bleeding, however, while he was being prepped for the operation the orthopedic surgeon ordered him to receive a knee CAT scan, which was also injured in the crash. The CAT scan order caused a half-hour delay in surgery, triggering cardiac and respiratory arrest.
The patient was resuscitated in the emergency room by an ER doctor and an anesthesiologist, however, the 30-minute delay resulted in partial-death of his spinal cord. Green is now permanently paralyzed from the waist down.
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At the time Dr. Bauerle ordered the CAT scan, Green’s blood pressure had dropped to 72 over 65. Medical experts called to testify at the malpractice trial stated that this number is considered dangerously low in the medical field, which Bauerle would have known but ordered the CAT anyway. Those doctors who testified were from Harvard Medical School, Connecticut, and Charleston, South Carolina.
Blood pressure numbers that low often indicate that a patient is on the verge of a cardiac arrest, and the jury agreed that interrupting Green’s treatment was negligent and grounds for malpractice. Testifying doctors stated that the patient should never have been diverted from pre-op with such dangerous vital signs.
In related news, a surgical malpractice lawsuit was recently filed against a podiatrist in Texas. The plaintiff claims her physician negligently failed to warn her about the various risks of surgical procedures he performed on her foot.
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The plaintiff underwent foot surgery in 2007 after experiencing a constant burning sensation between her toes when she walked. The doctor is located in an area known as Texarkana, because it is located near the border of Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. The plaintiff is a resident of Arkansas though her suit is filed in the Eastern District of Texas.
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In July of 2011 the plaintiff underwent the first of numerous surgeries on her right foot, which she now believes were unnecessary and caused serious, permanent damage. In her complaint the woman alleges that her podiatrist, Dr. Petty, described the procedures as minimal, simple incision surgeries from which she would swiftly recover.
The reality, she claims, was much more long and involved – after the procedure the bones in her right foot failed to heal properly, requiring several more, extensive procedures by other physicians to fix the problems. She claims that Dr. Petty did not inform her of the possibility of improper bone healing, and that, had she known this potential, would not have given consent for the initial procedure.
Dr. Petty is now accused of medical negligence for failing to attempt non-surgical treatments before recommending operating; failing to competently inform the patient of risks; failing to diagnose and treat the atypical bone healing in her foot; and failing to adhere to the standard level of care during the surgical procedure, resulting in permanent bone misalignment and numerous additional procedures.
Medical malpractice lawyers at Pintas & Mullins Law Firm have decades of experience advocating on behalf of those seriously injured through medical negligence. We offer free, no-obligation consultations to potential clients in all 50 states.
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