Los Angeles Injury Lawyer Blog

A half dozen LA and Orange County area hospitals received fines for serious violations from the Department of Public Health. Getting hurt at a hospital seems like a impossibility, but these hospitals committed errors which resulted in $25,000 fines each. The hospital errors caused patient deaths, brain damage, and in some cases required additional surgeries. If you or a loved one has been further injured or killed at a Southern California hospital, call 1-800-ALAWPRO and speak to a medical malpractice attorney for free now.

Following is a listing of the six hospitals that were cited with a brief description of their violation:

Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, Colton, LA County-USC Medical Center, and South Coast Medical Center, Laguna Beach: Patients required additional surgeries in order to remove surgical towels and sponges left during original surgeries. Staff fined for failing to follow appropriate surgical procedures.

Children’s Hospital of Orange County: Child left with severe brain injury after drainage following neurological procedure was inadequate. Nursing staff accused of poor care.

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, Newport Beach: Patient death after disconnection from cardiac monitor went undetected for over half an hour. Technician accused of failing to notice problem.

Southwest Healthcare Systems, Murrieta: Overcrowding caused surgery beds to be misused as intensive care beds. Additionally, hospital accused of being understaffed.

Call the Law Offices of The Rudman Law Firm, PLC now if you suspect you or a loved one has received poor or negligent care at a Southern California hospital or medical center. We have more than 50 years combined experience in personal injury law. Learn more about us and cases we have won at www.alawpro.com. We offer a free and confidential consultation when you call 1-800-ALAWPRO (1-800-252-9776). Help is just a phone call away.

Many accidents can happen at hospitals. Employees including doctors, nurses, physician assistants and technicians can make mistakes. Medicines, medical equipment and patient files can be misplaced, misused or mislabeled. Hospital errors that involve children can be particularly painful for all those involved. If you believe that you or a loved one has received negligent or harmful care at a Los Angeles area hospital or health clinic, you should seek legal counsel immediately. A recent verdict has found Cedars-Sinai guilty of causing brain injury to an infant, awarding the victim millions of dollars. Call 1-800-ALAWPRO for a free and confidential consultation with a knowledgeable malpractice attorney now.

The Cedars lawsuit ended with the jury awarding the 5-year-old victim $7.4 million. As a month-old infant, the victim who was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Los Angeles allegedly showed signs of infection but was not treated in a timely manner by the doctors in the neonatal unit, even though her physician mother questioned the actions of the staff. Failure to give the baby antibiotics promptly resulted in her getting meningitis, causing permanent brain damage. The child now requires ongoing care including physical therapy, behavioral therapy and maintenance of a drainage shunt implanted in her brain.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a hospital in Los Angeles, please call the Law Firm of The Rudman Law Firm, PLC now. We have collected more than $150 million for our clients. To learn more about us visit www.alawpro.com now. Or call 1-800-ALAWPRO (1-800-252-9776) and receive a confidential and cost-free consultation with one of our attorneys. Help is just a phone call away.

Positioned near San Dimas, Pomona and Diamond Bar, Covina is home to 46,837 people and is about 22 miles from downtown Los Angeles. Covina has been the backdrop to many movies, including Wayne’s World and the television series Roswell. Downtown Covina offers a small-town feel with its general store, many antique shops, small boutiques and numerous restaurants. Personal injury cases may range from dog bite cases to wrongful death lawsuits. If you have an injury on your hands and want to explore your options for a lawsuit, the attorneys at The Rudman Law Firm, PLC can inform you of your rights. Call us now at 1-800-252-9776 (1-800-ALAWPRO) for a free and confidential consultation of your case. Give us a call as soon as possible to make sure that you don’t run out of time to file your lawsuit. Our attorneys have over 50 years of combined experience in personal injury law.

When hospital or clinic staff makes an error or a patient is unnecessarily harmed, the medical center may be at fault for medical malpractice. Southern California is home to numerous places providing medical care including doctors’ private practices, county hospitals, university and teaching hospitals, county and free clinics, and more. If you leave your place of care in worse condition than you entered, you should seek legal advice now by calling 1-800-ALAWPRO to speak with an Irvine injury attorney for free.

A woman who entered University of California at Irvine (UCI) Medical Center in 2005 for hip surgery, ended up with chronic pain in following the procedure. The 30-year-old victim sued the OC hospital for her injuries, and the jury found that the hospital and the doctor performing the surgery neglected to inform and warn the woman about potentially life-altering complications. The trial ended in an award for $2.9 million; however, due to award ceiling caps in California the woman will likely receive around $250,000.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a Southern California medical center, please seek legal advice immediately. The Law Offices of The Rudman Law Firm, PLC have more than 50 years combined legal experience. Let us do all the work and worrying for you. Learn more about us at www.alawpro.com and call 1-800-ALAWPRO (1-800-252-9776) for your free and confidential consultation. We are here for you now.

Chances are that if you are going to a hospital you are already hurt or sick. If a medical procedure or other hospital error deteriorates your condition rather than improves it, the hospital and/or its staff may be liable. The California Department of Health has just fined 13 state hospitals for violating health codes, including those in which foreign objects were found inside patients after surgery. Though every violation extracts a $25,000 fine from the hospital, for many the citation and fine are too little to late. If you or a loved one has received medical care that worsened your situation in California, please call 1-800-ALAWPRO to speak to a personal injury lawyer at no cost.

Just this month a hospital in Hollywood was fined and cited by the California Dept. of Health for a needless and ultimately deadly blood transfusion. The victim was given an unneeded transfusion with the wrong type of blood, and died as a result. An investigation showed that the nurses did not follow the appropriate blood transfusion protocol.

Of the 13 violations recently disclosed, all of which occurred in 2007 and 2008, three involved foreign objects found inside patients. Other violations were for unnecessarily using restrains, not appropriately assessing and intervening when a patient was in decline, and improperly following surgical procedures leading to patients to require more surgery. To learn more about medical malpractice and patient rights, visit our website at www.alawpro.com.

If you or someone close to you has been hurt or killed at a CA hospital, get legal help now. At the Law Firm of The Rudman Law Firm, PLC, we have more than 50 years combined legal experience. Call us at 1-800-ALAWPRO (1-800-252-9776) for a free and confidential consultation. We are here to fight for you.

A local Los Angeles news station is reporting their investigation into pharmacy errors – potentially deadly errors that can be made by pharmacists when filling your prescription. Known in professional drug store jargon as “variation from prescription,” this means that customers are given the wrong medication – something that most consumers don’t realize until it is too late. If you or someone close to you has been sickened or killed in the Southland as a result of receiving wrong medication from a pharmacy, call 1-800-ALAWPRO to speak to a lawyer for free now.

The CBS report has uncovered some disturbing information for pharmacy users. For one, if a drug store or pharmacist has been cited for incorrectly filling a prescription, those citations are not available to the public. Los Angeles has the second highest rate of medication filling errors in the country. Over 51 million such mistakes are made annually in the US, although the number is likely higher since many don’t report or know that they have been given an incorrectly filled prescription. Still, even if they recognize their mistake, pharmacists are not obliged to report making a prescription filling error. The report found hundreds of druggists who are still filling prescriptions after being cited for making errors, since neither loss of license nor suspension is a consequence of giving the wrong medication.

If you believe that you or a loved one has been given the wrong medication by an LA pharmacy, please get legal help now. The Rudman Law Firm, PLC is a personal injury law firm dedicated to serving you in your time of need. Call us at 1-800-ALAWPRO (1-800-252-9776) for your free and confidential initial interview, or check out our website at www.alawpro.com to learn more about what we do best. Let us do the work and worrying for you when you call us now.

The Food & Drug Administration is coming under new scrutiny for not appropriately vetting doctors who try out medications prior to FDA approval. The Department of Health and Human Services discovered that financial information was missing for over 40% of doctors conducting research on new medications. One third of drug researchers’ financial data had never been reviewed by FDA regulators. This lax oversight of medication trials is another in a series of recent complaints against the FDA. Other recent allegations included insufficient trial periods and a slowness to react to approved medication side effects and overdose potentials. If you or a loved one has been injured by an FDA approved or pre-FDA approved drug in Southern California, call 1-800-ALAWPRO to speak with a lawyer for free.

The following medications have received FDA recalls and/or warnings. All have resulted in settlements, verdicts or have lawsuits pending against them. To learn more about these pharmaceuticals, visit our website at www.alawpro.com.

DRUG: Trasylol/Aprotinin
MAKER: Bayer
USAGE: Blood thinner
COMPLAINT: Kidney Problems, Heart Attack, Stroke, Death

DRUG: Avandia
MAKER: GlaxoSmithKline
USAGE: Diabetes
COMPLAINT: Edema, Heart Attack, Heart Failure, Death

DRUG: Zyprexa
MAKER: Eli Lilly
USAGE: Schizophrenia
COMPLAINT: Diabetes, Obesity, Death

DRUG:Gadolinium
MAKER: multiple
USAGE: MRI's
COMPLAINT: NSF (Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis)

DRUG: Fentanyl
MAKER: multiple
USAGE: Painkiller
COMPLAINT: Deadly overdosing from skin patches

DRUG: Heparin
MAKER: Bayer and others
USAGE: Blood thinner
COMPLAINT: Contamination and overdose resulting in death

DRUG: Byetta
MAKER: Lilly
USAGE: Diabetes
COMPLAINT: Allergic reaction

Have you or someone close to you been hurt or killed from medication in the US? Then call a Law Team who understands your case. At the The Rudman Law Firm, PLC, we have collected more than $150 million for our clients. Let us serve you in your time of need. Call us now at 1-800-ALAWPRO (1-800-252-9776) for your free and private consultation with a lawyer. Help is just a phone call away.

Childbirth, labor and delivery remain a complicated, serious and potentially dangerous event for mothers and babies. Whether delivered at a hospital or birthed at home, both moms and infants are at risk for multiple injuries including brain injury, blood loss, deformity, nerve damage and even death. Complications and accidents around child birth may be the fault of the doctor, nurse, midwife, medication or medical device. If you or a loved one has been hurt during labor and delivery, you may not know who to blame or where to turn. To learn more, visit our website at www.alawpro.com, or call 1-800-ALAWPRO to speak to a California lawyer about your case for free.

A recent settlement for $6.5 million was granted to a family whose child allegedly suffered brain damage during birth at an Illinois hospital. The mother received the drug Pitocin during the delivery, and her infant son suffered reduced oxygen and low heart rate as a result. Neither the doctor nor the nurse was alleged to have responded appropriately to the baby’s distress, and brain injury ensued.

Have you or your child been injured during birth in Los Angeles? Then call a Law Team who can help. At the Rudman Law Firm, PLC, we have more than 50 years combined legal experience in serving the rights of the wrongfully injured. Call us at 1-800-ALAWPRO (1-800-252-9776) for your free and confidential consultation. We are here for you now.

News about drug companies halting free gifts to doctors such as pens, coffee mugs, clocks and clothing made headlines earlier this year. Now other freebies pharmaceutical companies give to physicians are coming under scrutiny: free medication samples. A handful of studies are showing that free drugs can have multiple downsides for patients including danger from packaging, inappropriate prescriptions, unknown side effects, and financial loss. To learn more about victim’s rights, please visit our website at www.alapwro.com. If you or a loved one has been become sick or died from taking free samples from a doctor, call 1-800-ALAWPRO to speak with a lawyer at no cost.

While it might seem a fortunate and money-saving event, receiving free samples of medication from a doctor can be dangerous. New reports by the Journal of Medical Ethics, the Centers for Disease Control and others have found a number of downsides:

• Drug samples are often of new medications. Side effects and interactions are often unknown with meds that are new on the market.
• 33% of physicians admit that their prescription drug choices are influenced by what free medicine samples they receive.
• Free drug samples often lack safety information regarding dosage and potential side effects or interactions.
• Pharmacists do not oversee distribution of free medication samples, eliminating one step in the safety system of prescription drug distribution.
• Some medication samples are not child-proof.
• Children receiving free samples lose out when warnings are later attached to the medicine after an extended time on the market.
• Free drug samples of name brand meds lead to recipients’ lack of generic drug use, causing patients more money.

If you or a loved one has been harmed or killed from medication in California, you need the advice of a Law Team that understands. At the The Rudman Law Firm, PLC, we have collected more than $150 million for our clients. Call us at 1-800-ALAWPRO (1-800-252-9776) for your free and confidential consultation with a lawyer. Help is just a phone call away.

Heparin, a drug made by Baxter Healthcare Corp. has been embroiled in multiple lawsuits regarding both contamination and overdoses due to dangerous packaging. Heparin, an anti-coagulant or blood thinner, is used to thin and prevent blood clots in both adults and children. A scandal regarding contaminated Heparin from a plant in China resulted in a large Heparin recall. When the twin infants of actor Dennis Quaid were nearly killed from a Heparin overdose, the misleading packaging of Heparin was thrust into the media spotlight. Quaid has filed a negligence lawsuit against the makers of Heparin. Both Heparin contaminations and overdoses can lead to death. To learn more about the deadly hazards of Heparin, go to our website at www.alawpro.com. Have you or a loved on been injured or killed from a Heparin incident in California? Then call 1-800-ALAWPRO to speak with a lawyer for free.

The actor Dennis Quaid and his wife have reached a $750,000 with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles in regards to their infant twins' near-fatal Heparin overdose. Similar packaging for different amounts of Heparin has resulted in babies receiving 1,000 times more Heparin than intended. At Cedars-Sinai, the Quaid babies were accidentally given this type of Heparin overdose by nurses who extracted medication from the wrong vials. Per the hospital, three separate lapses in safety protocol led to the overdose. Cedars has already been fined $25,000 by California regulators for not following procedure regarding pediatric use of Heparin. Additionally, the Quaid family has filed a negligence lawsuit against Baxter, the makers of Heparin. The suit states that Baxter's Heparin packaging design and labels are dangerous, and that Baxter chose not to recall the confusingly packaged vials, even though they knew of their deadly potential.

If you or a loved one has been hurt or killed by a Heparin overdose or contamination in Los Angeles, get in touch with a Law Team who can help. The Law Offices of Rudman Law Firm, PLC has more than 50 years combined legal experience. Let us do all the work and worrying for you. Call us now at 1-800-ALAWPRO (1-800-252-9776) for your free and confidential consultation. Help is just a phone call away.

In an incident that made headlines last year, a woman writhed in pain for hours at the emergency room in King-Harbor Medical Center before she finally died of a perforated bowel. With the incident caught on tape, her estate is suing the LA county hospital for wrongful death and negligence. With a settlement on the table, a lawyer for the county has mistakenly released a document acknowledging that the hospital was medically negligent and contributed to her death. To learn more about wrongful death, please visit our website at www.alawpro.com. If you believe that a loved one has been killed due to the fault of another person or entity in Southern California, call 1-800-ALAWPRO to speak with a lawyer for free.

Martin Luther King, Jr.-Harbor Medical Center has since been closed, having been found unable to provide a minimum standard of care. An LA Times investigation found that the hospital paid out more than $20 million in malpractice suits and settlements from 199-2003. Prior to the leaking of the county's own document, they had offered $250,000 to the victim's boyfriend, who called 911 from the ER in an attempt to get his girlfriend medical care. He is suing the county for emotional distress. The victim's children are suing for wrongful death and asking for $1 million for each minute that she could have been helped. It is unclear as to how the assessment and acknowledgement of negligence from the hospital's own lawyers will affect the pending cases.

If you believe you or a loved one has been the victim of negligence or wrongful death in LA, please get advice from a lawyer. At the Rudman Law Firm, PLC, we have more than 50 years combined legal experience. Let us fight for your rights. Call us at 1-800-ALAWPRO (1-800-252-9776) for a free and confidential consultation now. Help is just a phone call away.

Under a new law, hospitals in California are required to report certain medical mistakes. It has been estimated that around 100 Californians are being injured by easily preventable medical errors each month in California hospitals. This new law requires that California hospitals report 28 different types of substantial injuries to patients such as medication errors, surgical errors, and death during labor.

During a ten month period, California hospitals have reported that foreign objects were left behind in the patient’s bodies 145 times, a wrong surgery was performed 41 times, and a patient died by taking two drugs that were not prescribed to her. Around 1000 of these medical harms have been reported by California hospitals. There are fines imposed to the wrongdoers. During the ten month period, the health department has issued a fine of $25,000 against ten hospitals.

Most of these medical errors are preventable if one exercises care. Hospitals are places that people go to make their bodies better not worse. If you or your loved one has been exposed to medical malpractice at hospitals then please contact us at the law office of Rudman Law Firm, PLC at 1-800-252-9776 (1-800-ALAWPRO) now to discuss your rights with one of our attorneys. We will get the compensation that you deserve.

Under a state penalty program passed into law in January 2007 (Health and Safety Code section 1280.1), hospitals may be fined for cases of “immediate jeopardy” to a patient’s health. Since the law was enacted 15 months ago, several hospitals have been hit with penalties for their violations. Among these violations include cases where physicians hit patients with substantial and unnecessary amounts of forced during an angioplasty procedure, failing to ensure the safety in a mental health unit, putting patients and visitors at risk of infection from food-borne illnesses, and giving patients dosage exceeding the recommended amount. Under the law, a penalty of $25,000 is to be assessed for every violation found to have occurred.

A press release issued by the California Department of Public Health released the names of eleven hospitals that were fined just last month, including their specific violations:

• Cedars-Sinai Medical Center—Los Angeles, Los Angeles County
  Failure to implement policies and adequately educate staff on the safe use of medications


• Enloe Medical Center—Chico, Butte County
  Failure to develop procedures for the safe use of medications
  Failure to implement verification processes for intravenously administered narcotics


• Kern Medical Center—Bakersfield, Kern County
  Lack of quality assurance systems


• Kindred Hospital Modesto—Modesto, Stanislaus County ($75,000 fine)
  Failure implement corrective actions related to the safety of side rails
  Failure to implement procedures to minimize adverse medication events
  Failure to develop policies surrounding the accountability of controlled substances


• Natividad Medical Center—Salinas, Monterey County
  Failure to ensure the safety of a patient in a mental health unit.


• Scripps Memorial Hospital—La Jolla, San Diego County
  Failure to protect a patient’s right to considerate and respectful care


• Sierra Vista Hospital, Inc.—Sacramento, Sacramento County
  Failure to develop and implement procedures for safe use of medications


• Universal Health Services of Rancho Springs (Southwest Healthcare Systems)—Murietta, Riverside County
  Failure to ensure proper food controls, placing patients and visitors at risk for serious harm due to the potential growth of microorganisms and food borne illness


• University of California, San Francisco Medical Center—San Francisco, San Francisco County
  Failure to implement polices on safe distribution of medications and minimize adverse medication outcomes


• Valley Care Medical Center—Pleasanton, Alameda County
  Failure to ensure safe distribution and administration of medication


• Washington Hospital—Fremont, Alameda County
  Failure to implement polices on safe distribution of medications

The purpose of the fines is to deter hospitals from unsafe practices that may cause injury or death to its patients. According to a representative, the hospitals take the violations very seriously, not only for their monetary value, but also because they are made public. In addition, new laws may allow the California Health Department to increase fines to $50,000 per violation.

If you or a loved on has been injured in a medical malpractice in a California hospital, do not hesitate to take action now. During this difficult time, you need an experienced, tough attorney who will fight for your rights. Call the professionals at the Law Offices of The Rudman Law Firm, PLC LLP at 1-800-ALAWPRO (1-800-252-9776) for a free consultation.

If you or a loved one has suffered personal injury in Pomona, California, it is important that you seek the guidance of experienced legal professionals to help you understand your rights and remedies. The lawyers at the Law Offices of The Rudman Law Firm, PLC LLP have experience in the following practice areas:

• Motor vehicle (car, truck, bus) accidents


• Premises liability (slip & fall, trip & fall, workplace & construction injuries)


• Dog bites and animal attacks


• Defective products


• Pharmaceutical injury and medical malpractice


• Toxic, environmental torts


• Injuries such as burn, spinal cord, brain, broken bones, back pain

In addition to over 50 years of combined legal experience, our attorneys have successfully collected over $150 million for our clients. More importantly, we advance all costs so that you don’t have to pay a dime until we first collect money for you. If you think that you have suffered injury at the wrong of others, call now so that we can give you a personal assessment of your situation. We’ll even come to your home or medical room to sign you up. Call 1-800-ALAWPRO (1-800-252-9766) now. We’ll do what it takes to help you through this difficult time.

Ventura County is the home to over 750,000 people. Each year in California, thousands of innocent people are the victims of accidents involving negligence. If you have been injured as the result of a car accident, a negligent product, or dangerous public or work premises, you may be entitled to receive damages for your suffering. Accidents can cause serious emotional and physical pain, and we are here to help you through this difficult time.

The Law Offices of The Rudman Law Firm, PLC LLP are an experienced and respected Southern California law firm dedicated to protecting the rights of people injured through the negligence of others. With an extensive record of trial and settlement success, we know how to represent your needs and fight for your rights.

If you or a family member has been injured by the negligence of another in California, let a personal injury attorney help. Please call the Law Offices of The Rudman Law Firm, PLC LLP at 1-800-ALAWPRO (1-800-252-9776) today for a free and confidential consultation. We’re here for you.

The Supreme Court in Riegel v. Medtronic, Inc. recently denied a man an award for damages when his balloon catheter ruptured during heart surgery due to over-inflation. The man sued the manufacturer of the catheter, alleging that the device violated New York state law and that the defective product caused him to suffer from severe and permanent injuries. After hearing the facts, the Supreme Court found that the federal Medical Device Act prevented the man from seeking remedies based on his state common law claims of strict liability, breach of implied warranty and negligence.

The Medical Device Act bars a State from establishing any requirements that are 1) different from or in addition to any federal requirements which 2) relate to the safety and effectiveness of a medical device. The purpose of the Act is to provide federal oversight to the introduction of new medical devices. The Act categorizes devices into three categories, with more federal oversight regulating the most complex of the devices. Class I, which include items such as bandages or examination gloves, is subject to the lowest level of oversight. Examples of devices that fall within Class II are powered wheelchairs or surgical drapes. Class III devices, which include replacement heart valves and pacemaker pulse generators, are those that are purported to be used for sustaining human life, that significantly prevent impairment of human health, or that present a potential unreasonable risk of illness and injury. Class III devices are subject to the most federal oversight. According to the Act, medical equipment manufacturers cannot market or make changes to Class III devices without FDA approval.

In determining whether to grant pre-market approval, the FDA applies a balancing test that weighs the probable health benefit against the probable risk of injury or illness. Thus, a device that has the potential to cause injury could still be approved if the FDA determines that its benefits significantly outweigh that risk.

In the case at hand, doctors inserted the Evergreen Balloon Catheter into the patient’s coronary artery in attempt to dilate it. Despite the manufacturer’s warnings not to use the device in patients with a heavily calcified coronary artery and to refrain from over-inflating it past its rated burst pressure, doctors did both of those actions. As a result, the patient suffered a heart block, was placed on life support, and underwent an emergency coronary bypass surgery. In response, the man brought a suit against Medtronic, claiming that its catheter was designed, labeled, and manufactured in violation of NY state law. The Supreme Court found that the Medtronics catheter in question complied with Class III pre-market approval requirements of the FDA. As a result, the Court held that the man was pre-empted from bringing any state law claims because in doing so, it would impose additional requirements expressly prohibited by the Medical Devices Act.

While this case imposes some limitation on an individual’s ability to recover from damages sustained in medical injury case, the Court left open several issues. First, the case only applies to medical devices and doesn’t include approved drugs. Additionally, the Court only addresses the impacts of the Medical Device Act on Class III devices. Finally, the case only applies to devices that have met the federal requirements. Devices that are not in compliance with regulations are still subject to claims of strict liability.

If you or someone close to you has been injured by a malfunctioning medical device, you may still be able to recover. The laws on medical malpractice and product liability are complex, but we are here to help. If you have been injured in the state of California due to a malfunctioning device, please call us at The Rudman Law Firm, PLC at 1-800-ALAWPRO (1-800-252-9776) for a free consultation regarding your rights.

A product liability lawsuit was filed by Dennis Quaid and his wife after an incident where their newborn twins were accidentally given large doses of the anti-coagulant pharmaceutical drug Heparin while they were at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. The product liability lawsuit was filed against Baxter Healthcare Corp. and alleges that they were negligent in the way they packaged different doses of Heparin with similar backgrounds. Three children were killed at a hospital in Indianapolis last year, and the suit alleges that Baxter should have recalled the vials with large doses after these incidents. The company recently changed its packaging by adding a red label that reads “Caution” and must be removed before the vials can be opened. The Quaids are not suing Cedars Sinai hospital for medical malpractice which admitted that this was a preventable error.

The Quaids’ twins, Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace, along with a third patient were mistakenly given massive doses of heparin during their stay at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, California on November 18th. The vials contained 10,000 units of heparin per milliliter instead of 10 units per milliliter which was 1,000 times stronger than the normal dosage for a small baby. Heparin was used to flush catheters to prevent clotting. The Quaids claim that the lawsuit is not about money and that they just want to save other children from suffering the same incident as their twins. Despite the fact that the twins nearly died from their overdose, they are reportedly doing well, but the long term affects of the incident are unknown.

A dentist’s family was awarded $4M in a medical malpractice settlement as a result of a deep vein thrombosis (clot formation) which led to a pulmonary embolism that killed him while he was a patient at Lutheran General Hospital in 2002. Urban had been injured in a car accident and sustained a break of the pelvis and a wrist fracture. The hospital identified him as being at risk for the development of clots (also known as deep-vein thrombosis) which can lead to a pulmonary embolism (a blockage to the heart and brain of blood flow). A pulmonary embolism is one of the most common forms of death in a hospital. The hospital administered medication to the dentist, Dr. Anton Urban, while he was there in order to minimize clots, but tests were not conducted to determine whether or not clots were actually forming. Clots formed in Urban’s lower legs, and ultimately broke free and lodged in his lungs, which caused his wrongful death. Urban is survived by his wife of 29 years and four adult children.

The Los Angeles Times reported that individual patients dropped by Blue Shield insurance may file a class action lawsuit for cancelling policies after policyholders submitted claims. A three-judge panel in the California 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled that canceling an individual health insurance policy for omitting information or making a mistake on an application after claims are submitted is strictly prohibited under state law. This is a victory for consumers and opens the way for class-action lawsuits against insurers that have improperly dropped policyholders.

This suit was filed by a Los Angeles jeweler, Augusto Ticconi, whose policy was canceled after his appendix burst and he submitted medical bills totaling more than $100,000. He believes that Blue Shield investigated his application only as a way to avoid paying his bills. In addition he stated that Blue Shield failed to attached his application to his policy when it issued it, which would invalidate the recision. The first trial court ruled in favor of Blue Shield and rejected the class action; however, the appeals court came to a different conclusion.

The practice of California health insurance companies waiting until after individuals incur medical expenses before they analyze policies for misstatements was called into question by the California Court of Appeals. The practice of looking back at claims after expenses are submitted is called post-claims underwriting and is not allowed. All three judges were unanimous in this decision and added that insurers must attach a copy of the application to the policy in order to cancel it. This decision could open the door to several class-action lawsuits against insurance companies.

Blue Shield of California Life & Health Insurance Co. insists that it is following state law which allows insurers to cancel individual policyholders who omit information or make false statements on applications. A spokesman for Blue Shield stated that the ruling was limited to whether or not a class can be certified and that the court ruled that it could. But other experts agree that this is a blow for Blue Shield and other insurance companies and a victory for patients.