A jury has ruled in favor of Susan Kalitan and awarded her a $4.7 million verdict for Broward County medical malpractice. The woman sustained personal injuries during a botched medical procedure that resulted in anesthesia complications in 2007.
Doctors were supposed to treat her carpal tunnel. Instead, she contends, medical instruments used on her during general anesthesia created a hole in her esophagus, which caused all the food she swallowed to end up in her chest cavity. Also, there was a student nurse on the anesthesia team for her surgery.
Just one day after being discharged from Broward General Medical Hospital, Kalitan was rushed to West Side Regional and had to undergo emergency surgery. Following that, she stayed in ICU for weeks, was unable swallow for months, and needed a feeding tube. She still has problems swallowing and feels numbness and pain on one side of her body.
Florida Anesthesia Malpractice
Aesthesia injuries and other complications can result in devastating consequences for patients. Permanent injury, brain damage, and death are among the worst outcomes. Examples of other injuries that can result from South Florida anesthesia mistakes include:
• Positioning injuries
• Compression injuries
• Stretch injuries
• Throat injuries
• Collapsed left lung
• Pneumopericardium
• Laryngospasm
• Emesis
• Aspiration
• Nerve damage
• Systemic toxicity
• Infection
• Anesthesia awareness
• Hypertension
• Lip injury
• Teeth injury
• Heart attack
• Stroke
• Hematoma
• Swelling
Anesthesia-related injures can take place during surgery, before, after, or during the birth of a child. Anesthesia mistakes can also happen during dental procedures that require that the patient be sedated or unconscious.
Proving anesthesia-related negligence can be tough. Many hospitals will try to set up barriers to avoid liability, such as treating anesthesiologists as independent contractors that they are not responsible in the event of Florida medical malpractice, and evidence can be hard to come by unless you know exactly what to look for and where.
Hospital to Pay $4.7M For Botching Anesthesia, NBC Miami, June 17, 2011
Woman awarded $4.7 Million in malpractice, WSVN, June 18, 2011
Related Web Resources:
Strong Medical Malpractice Cases, Nolo
Damages in Medical Malpractice Cases, Nolo
More Blog Posts:
Florida Medical Malpractice Cap Upheld by US Appeals Court, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, May 29, 2011
Man to File Lauderhill Medical Malpractice Lawsuit in Wife’s Broward County Wrongful Death Following Butt Enhancement Surgery, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, April 29, 2011
Man Files Florida Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Filed Against Hospital Over Wife’s 2008 Wrongful Death, February 12, 2011
You need to with a Broward County medical malpractice law firm that knows how to demonstrate and prove liability.