Articles Posted in Misdiagnosis

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Steven Rosen experienced severe disability after surgery for a herniated disk in the lower part of his neck. Several years later, he consulted a neurosurgeon, Dr. Harshpal Singh, who subsequently operated on Rosen’s cervical spine.

During the procedure, Dr. Singh allegedly noted that Rosen’s left C8 nerve root was not visible and had been transected or cut transversely.

Despite the second surgery, Rosen’s condition worsened. He is now 74 years old and needs ongoing pain management. Rosen and his wife filed suit against Dr. Singh and the New Jersey Brain & Spine Center, alleging medical negligence. The Rosen family asserted that the surgery was performed improperly, and that the physician caused serious injury to Rosen’s C8 nerve root.
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Ms. Doe underwent a tummy tuck performed by Dr. Roe, a plastic surgeon. During the procedure, Dr. Roe allegedly found a lipoma that he attempted to remove by way of liposuction. The attempt was unsuccessful, but Dr. Roe finished the procedure.

Ms. Doe suffered severe pain over the next week despite her use of narcotics. She later went to a hospital where exploratory surgery revealed two large bowel perforations. Ms. Doe required 11 additional surgeries.

Ms. Doe sued Dr. Roe, alleging that he had negligently perforated her bowel during the tummy tuck and had mistaken her bowel for a lipoma. A lipoma is a slow-growing fatty lump that most often is situated between the skin and underlying muscle layer. Lipomas are slow-growing and usually harmless.
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Elizabeth Tigani, 32, was admitted to Greenwich Hospital to deliver her first child. She was 40 weeks pregnant at the time. Since the second stage of labor lasted a long time, she requested a cesarean section but was allegedly told that a vaginal delivery was safe. However, early the next morning Tigani was taken to the operating suite for a cesarean section.

In that surgery, she suffered serious and permanent injuries to her uterus, vagina, bladder, among other problems, but the baby was born uninjured. Having experienced many complications in surgery, she is not able to have other children.

Tigani sued Westchester Medical Group, P.C., alleging that her injuries were due to the treating obstetrician’s delay in performing a cesarean section and surgical negligence. Tigani also claimed that the ob
stetrician chose not to engage in a shared decision-making process and allowed her to endure a prolonged second stage of labor.
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Ms. Doe, age 36, experienced chronic pelvic pain. She consulted with Dr. Roe, a gynecologist, who allegedly diagnosed Stage II endometriosis. Dr. Roe performed a laparoscopic hysterectomy and oophorectomy. Five days after that surgery, Ms. Doe went to Dr. Roe’s office complaining of nausea, vomiting, fever and decreased voiding. Dr. Roe, it was alleged, did not order imaging.

That same night, Ms. Doe went to a hospital’s ER where she was diagnosed as having fluid in her abdomen, hydronephrosis and acute kidney failure. Ms. Doe underwent urgent surgery to treat her injured ureters and bladder. She suffered complications following the surgery, including a fistula, kidney infections, recurrent UTIs and lost bladder sensation.

Ms. Doe sued Dr. Roe, alleging that the doctor had transected one of her ureters and obstructed the other during the hysterectomy. Ms. Doe also alleged that her bladder had been injured during the surgery.
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Michael Davis consulted a nurse practitioner at CHI St. Alexius Health Williston when he experienced flu-like symptoms. A blood test showed an elevated white blood cell count. Eight months later, he returned to the nurse practitioner, complaining of frothy urine. Blood testing showed again an elevated white cell count and protein or blood in his urine.

The nurse practitioner referred Davis to a urologist. The urologist was alleged to have found no urological explanation for the abnormal test results.

About six months later, the follow-up appointment with the nurse practitioner and testing showed that the level of blood and protein in Davis’s urine had tripled. A urologist again allegedly determined there was no urological explanation for those results.
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Matthew Rossignol, a combat veteran and a father of three, underwent an annual test at the Harry Truman Veterans Administration Hospital. The test results showed that he had an eGFR of 72.7. An eGFR (estimated glomerular filtration rate) is a measure of how well the kidneys are functioning. The eGFR is an estimated number based on blood tests and considers age, gender and body type.

After this test was conducted and measured 72.7, in the following year after additional testing, Rossignol allegedly received a letter from the VA stating that he was being approved for further renal evaluation and that he should avoid taking NASIDS (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), and he should return for follow-up testing in six months. His eGFR fell to 4.1 approximately six years later.

Rossignol’s creatinine levels rose to 13.59. A normal creatinine blood test result is 0.7 to 1.3 mg/dL (61.9 to 114.9 µmol/L) for men. Nevertheless, the VA nurse practitioner did not discontinue Naproxen, an anti-inflammatory drug harmful to kidneys, for another full year.
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The defendants, Gregg Coccaro, M.D., and Associated Saint James Radiologist, S.C., appealed from the $6.5 million jury verdict in this medical malpractice lawsuit. The appeal raised the following two issues:

(1) Did the trial court abuse its discretion in making a series of rulings related to evidence, argument and instruction that unfairly prejudiced defendants and thus warranted a new trial; and

(2) Did the trial court err in awarding prejudgment interest because the General Assembly’s 2021 amendment mandating prejudgment interest in personal injury and wrongful death cases (735 ILCS 5/2-1303(c) (West Supp. 2021)) violated the Illinois constitution?
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Jennifer Schlutt, 26, was diagnosed as having squamous cell carcinoma of the distal urethra or periurethral area.

She underwent a course of radiotherapy treatment, including external beam radiotherapy and the placement of an implant.

During this radiation treatment, which lasted approximately six weeks, Schlutt suffered a severe reaction. She complained to her treating radiation oncologist, Dr. David Hornback, that she was experiencing extreme pain, open wounds, an internal burning sensation and skin hardening.

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With several other physicians, cardiologist Dr. Roy Venzon attended to Laura Staib, 39. While she was in the hospital, Staib was diagnosed as having congestive heart failure, pneumonia and sepsis. She remained hospitalized until she was transferred to a long-term care facility the following month. Four days after that transfer, Staib died. She was survived by her husband and two minor children.

The Staib family sued Dr. Venzon and his practice, alleging that he chose not to properly diagnose her cardiac condition and should have prevented her transfer to the long-term care facility until she received a proper workup.

The Staib family attorneys argued that in light of Staib’s worsening condition, Dr. Venzon, the cardiologist, should have done more to determine the cause of her heart failure. The Staib family attorneys argued that a virus attacked her heart, which was the cause of her untimely death.
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Mr. Doe, age 51, fell at home and injured his back. He went to an urgent care facility, complaining of back pain that did not improve with medication or application of cold or heat.

At the time, Mr. Doe did not complain of numbness and tingling. A doctor diagnosed thoracic back pain and prescribed Ibuprofen and physical therapy.

Two weeks later, Mr. Doe went to his first physical therapy appointment and reported that he had been unable to lie down because of severe pain. The treating physical therapist sent him back to the urgent care facility to be examined.
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