Medical Malpractice

July 10, 2011

Miami VA Colonoscopy Hepatitis C Case Goes to Trial

As a Dallas Medical Malpractice attorney, and Texas medical doctor, I am providing this update regarding the medical malpractice cases in Miami VA hospital with improperly cleaned equipment.

A Miami U.S. Air Force vet who says he contracted hepatitis C from a colonoscopy done at the Miami VA hospital with improperly cleaned equipment will go to trial in Miami federal court. A Coral Gables veteran who filed the medical malpractice lawsuit, claims that an improper colonoscopy at the Miami Veterans’ Administration hospital gave him hepatitis C.

11,000 U.S. veterans received colonoscopies with improperly cleaned equipment at VA hospitals in Miami, Murfreesboro, Tenn., and Augusta, Ga., between 2004 and 2009. Of the veterans who had the procedure at the three facilities, five have tested positive for HIV, 25 for hepatitis C and eight for hepatitis B.

Robert Metzler, now 69, a U.S. Air Force veteran, says he got a colonoscopy at the Miami VA hospital in 2007 and two years later was told he has hepatitis C.

The lawsuits were filed after a 2009 investigation by the VA’s own Administrative Investigation Board revealed more than 11,000 colonoscopies were done at three VA hospitals using equipment that had been rinsed after each patient rather than being sterilized by steam and chemicals as called for by the manufacturer. Investigators who took apart water tubes on some of the equipment that was supposed to be clean and ready for use instead found “discolored liquid and debris.”
The AIB report said the colonoscopies in Miami were done in an environment of inadequate training, lack of supervision and inadequate communication.

U.S. Army veteran Juan Rivera of Miami sued for medical malpractice when he became HIV positive after a colonoscopy at the Miami VA hospital, that case settled out of court in March 2011.

In the Metzler case, court papers filed by the USA in April 2011 argue that the chances that the veteran contracted hepatitis C from the VA equipment are no more than “two in one trillion.” Hepatitis C can’t survive outside a human host for more than four days, the documents say, and “substantially more than four days had passed” between any previous patient with Hepatitis C who had a colonoscopy and the one performed on Metzler.

Metzler’s case is based on the claim that he had a blood test in August 2006 at the VA, with no sign of hepatitis C. His colonoscopy was in June 2007 and he was notified in March 2009 that he needed to come in to the VA for testing because the endoscope used in the procedure may have been contaminated, accodring to his lawyer. A month later, he was told he was positive for hepatitis C.

May 19, 2011

Medical Malpractice Wrongful Death During Plastic Surgery

by Dr. Shezad Malik

As a Dallas Fort Worth Personal Injury and Medical Malpractice attorney, I providing this tragic case of wrongful death following a fairly common plastic surgery procedure.

Lisa Martinez, 32, went in for a procedure with Dr. Robert Young, a San Antonio plastic surgeon. Lisa was getting a plastic surgery procedure known as a “Brazilian Butt Lift.”

According to court documents, Dr. Young was collecting fatty tissue from the hips and lower and mid back, and then injecting it back into her buttocks. During the surgery, according to the medical examiner, Lisa suffered intra-abdominal hemorrhaging due to a perforated aorta. The artery supplying blood to the rest of the body was punctured. The family ordered an autopsy and the family is filing a medical malpractice lawsuit.

All surgical procedures are associated with complications, and the surgeon has to take care to avoid the complications and to be vigilant in order to diagnose, recognize and treat the potential complications.

The failure to diagnose, recognize and treat the potential complications, is considered negligence and forms the basis of a medical malpractice lawsuit.

The surgeon should have anticipated some bleeding from this type of surgery and if the patient continues to deteriorate, then he needs to take extra steps to diagnose and treat the problem. Here it appears that the perforation in the aorta, which is extremely rare complication from this type of surgery, considering the anatomy, was unrecognized and untreated leading to the tragic outcome of death.

Will there be any justice for Lisa and her family, who have been impacted by this tremendous loss? Only time will tell. In Texas medical malpractice cases, pain and suffering is capped at $250,000 and if Lisa was not employed, that would be the maximum compensation the family could possibly receive. And only if they are successful in a jury trial. In Texas in medical malpractice cases, the plaintiffs are only successful in 15% of lawsuits. In other words 85% of Texans are poured out, so much for Tort Reform. Good luck to you if you get injured or killed by medical malpractice.

May 2, 2011

Dallas Parkland Hospital Medical Malpractice

by Dr. Shezad Malik

U.S. Medicare and Medicaid officials have found problems at Dallas County’s general hospital after a newspaper investigation into a woman’s botched 2008 knee replacement surgery. This hospital became famous world wide after the Kennedy assassination in the 1960’s.

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services found that failures by Dallas’s Parkland Memorial Hospital resulted, in some cases, in rape, amputation and death. Hospital officials have assured that they have resolved the problems cited in the report. The agency performed an inspection of the hospital after the Dallas Morning News reported on its investigation into the case of Jessie Mae Ned, whose knee replacement led to nearly follow-up surgeries, infections, amputation of her left leg and $1 million in Medicaid billings.

The inspection report by the federal agency noted that Parkland had no formal policy in 2008 for faculty supervision of doctors in the residency program of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. Those residents provide most of the medical care at Parkland, which is a teaching hospital.

In Ned’s case, the primary surgeon during her first operation, the knee replacement, had been out of medical school for almost a year. The young resident and a medical school student oversaw Ned’s care for the first 72 hours after her surgery but overlooked a rare surgical injury to a leg artery that led to her devastating postoperative complications. The records show a UT Southwestern faculty surgeon was present during the surgery, but show no sign of his involvement in the 72 hours of postoperative care.

The January federal inspector’s report showed that aside from failing to “ensure that the medical staff is accountable” for quality of care, “medical records were not complete.” Also, Parkland “failed to identify a medical error” until after the newspaper’s investigation.

Parkland is providing Ned with physical therapy and helping her learn to use the prosthetic leg she received in February. She has received no compensation from the hospital or the medical school for her lost limb.

April 4, 2011

Houston Texas Pain Pill Mill Doctor Busted Again

by Dr. Shezad Malik

As a Dallas Medical License Defense Attorney, I am providing this article regarding a Houston Pain Pill Mill Doctor being busted again. It looks like this guy and his cronies did not learn their lesson. This is a quick fire way to lose your medical and pharmacy licenses.

A physician and two pharmacists arrested in a Houston high-volume pill mill operation, had previously faced disciplinary probes for distributing controlled drugs, and all three had been allowed to continue to work despite those allegations, according to professional disciplinary records.

For two years Dr. Gerald Ratinov, the state’s top prescriber of the pain killer drug hydrocodone, has been under investigation by the Texas Medical Board (TMB) for operating another Harris County pill mill. At that site, an unlicensed foreign medical graduate dispensed drugs and patients received pain pills without proper examinations in 2008.

During the TMB disciplinary action, Ratinov, a 76-year-old neurologist, opened the Astrodome Health Clinic in September 2010 — another site described as a pill mill, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. And at that clinic and two other sites, he supervised unlicensed foreign medical school graduates and others who illegally supplied pills.

Ratinov now faces felony charges for illegally operating three pill mills: the Astrodome Health Clinic, The Abundant Life and Weight Loss Center and the Hobby Medical Center.

20 people face charges resulting from this week’s pill mill sting, which involved three clinics and four pharmacies. The DEA, the Department of Public Safety, the medical and pharmacy boards and other agencies participated.

Two pharmacists arrested this week already had been on probation with the state Board of Pharmacy for previous prescription problems, according to Pharmacy Board records.

March 21, 2011

Denton Texas Medical Doctor License Suspended Over Sex Assault Allegations

by Dr. Shezad Malik

As a Fort Worth Medical Practice Attorney, I want to share this Texas Medical Board bulletin, regarding a Denton, Texas doctor’s fitness to practice medicine. A Denton County doctor who is quoted saying he does “what is best for the patient” is now considered “a continuing threat to the public welfare.”

Medical Board Suspends License of Denton Physician

On March 14, 2011, a disciplinary panel of the Texas Medical Board temporarily suspended, with notice, the medical license of Ramon A. Cruz, M.D., of Denton, after determining that Dr. Cruz’s continuation in the practice of medicine constitutes a continuing threat to the public welfare.

The panel found that Dr. Cruz, Lic. No. K3703, engaged in sexually inappropriate behavior with several patients. Four incidents, including an alleged sexual assault, were reported by patients to Denton Police. Patients reported four incidents to Denton police, including one alleged sexual assault.

His accusers say he used “aggressive behavior” toward them dating back to 2008, but no action was taken until this week. Documents reveal one patient accused Cruz of putting “his hand down the front of her pajama pants.” Another patient alleges the doctor was “grabbing her from behind and putting his hand under her shirt.”

Since the suspension, four additional women contacted police saying they also were victims of Dr Cruz, who touched them sexually and made inappropriate remarks, according to police reports.

One woman described three occasions when she either was in his office or in a hospital room. She said on one occasion she was hospitalized and drowsy on pain medication when he came into the room, lifted the sheet to look at her body and then leaned over and kissed her, according to the police report.

Another woman reported to police that he kissed her and made sexual comments to her during two visits to his office in September 2009.

A third woman said that during 2003 and 2004, when she was his patient, he tried to kiss her and touch her, a police report states.

The fourth woman reported to police she was hospitalized when he touched her and kissed her against her wishes.

Most of the women who have reported the doctor’s behavior so far have said they did not report it because they thought no one would believe them.

The panel found that Dr. Cruz’s actions demonstrate a pattern of inappropriate behavior, which is a continuing threat to public health and safety. The suspension remains in effect until the Board takes further action.

March 12, 2011

Fugitive Medical Doctor Faces 350 Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

by Dr. Shezad Malik

As a Dallas Medical Malpractice attorney and licensed medical doctor, I am providing this article regarding an Indiana surgeon who has been a fugitive on the run for many medical malpractice claims.

An Indiana surgeon who was on the run for over five years faces a wrongful death negligence lawsuit claiming he caused the death of a woman in 2004 after failing to diagnose her with lung cancer.

The lawsuit alleges that the woman went to see the doctor in 2004 with a sore throat, that she received unnecessary surgery and delayed treatment, and died after lung cancer was not treated.

The surgeon was captured in Italy in 2009 and faces more than 350 medical malpractice suits.

February 7, 2011

Texas Physician Who Had Nurses Prosecuted is Placed on Probation

by Dr. Shezad Malik

As a Fort Worth Medical Malpractice attorney I am writing a follow up to a West Texas story that has attracted a lot of media attention.

Texas medical regulators placed on probation a West Texas doctor involved in the unsuccessful prosecution of two nurses who complained anonymously that the physician was unethical and risking patients’ health.

The Texas Medical Board technically suspended Dr. Rolando G. Arafiles Jr., but said he could continue to practice medicine while on probation for four years, if he completed additional training.

The board also said Arafiles must be monitored by another physician and submit patient medical and billing records for review.

January 17, 2011

Houston Doctor and Clinic Busted for Wrongful Death

by Dr. Shezad Malik

As a Fort Worth Medical Malpractice attorney, I am providing the jury verdict and a win for the good guys.

Jurors awarded $10.1 million in damages to the family of an overdose victim, hoping the verdict strikes fear into other “pill mills” that have turned Houston into a national center for prescription drug abuse.

“Our verdict shows how much our community is against these pill mills and wants things to change,” said juror Lauren Simmons, after finding gross negligence led to the overdose death of Michael Skorpenske of Conroe.

Skorpenske, 54, died July 7, 2007, two days after his only visit to the Family Medi Clinic in The Woodlands where he received a prescription for three potent drugs: hydrocodone, xanax and soma.

He had sought help there for chronic pain he suffered from a motorcycle injury and a fall at a petrochemical plant.

According to records, the clinic’s director, Dr. Maurice Conte, had prescribed this same drug combo at least 3,800 times between 2006 and 2007 at more than 17 pain area clinics that he supervised. Dr. Maurice Conte, was forced to surrender his license to the Texas Medical Board after Skorpenske died.

Conte, who repeatedly pleaded the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination during the four-day trial, was found grossly negligent and slapped with the stiffest penalty: $9.05 million.

December 26, 2010

Fort Worth Police Used Taser on Hospital Patient

by Dr. Shezad Malik

As a Fort Worth Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Attorney, I am providing, what is in my opinion one of the most outrageous civil rights, medical malpractice and personal injury claims involving Taser usage.

A confused post-surgical patient at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Hurst-Euless-Bedford was tasered. Bedford police said that on December 14, an off-duty police officer working at the hospital responded to a report of a “violent situation.”

According to the police, when the officer arrived, “there had been two hospital employees that had been assaulted” by the patient, and the officer “used his Taser to restrain the subject.”

December 20, 2010

Injured Texas ER Patients Blame Tort Reform

by Dr. Shezad Malik

As a Fort Worth Medical Malpractice attorney I am providing this Texas medical malpractice update.

Texas lawmakers passed legislative changes in 2003, which made it more difficult for patients to be awarded damages in any health care medical malpractice setting.

The tort reform state lawmakers passed in 2003, the toughest in the country, capped medical liability for non economic damages at $250,000 per health care provider, with a maximum award of $750,000.