Articles Posted in Medical Malpractice

Diabetes is a condition that affects millions of people throughout the United States. The American Diabetes Association estimates that about 25 million Americans suffered from diabetes as of 2011. If it is not properly treated or left untreated, diabetes can be fatal. If your diabetes was negligently treated, causing your condition to worsen, you may have a medical malpractice claim against your health care provider. At Arfaa Law Group, our seasoned Baltimore medical malpractice attorneys can meticulously analyze the facts of your case and determine the viability of your claim.

Diabetes is a group of diseases in which the body’s ability to produce or respond to insulin is compromised, resulting in an abnormal metabolism of carbohydrates and heightened levels of glucose (blood sugar) in the blood stream and urine. Put simply, diabetes affects how your body uses blood glucose. According to the Mayo Clinic, glucose is vital to your health because it is an important source of energy for the cells that make up your muscles and tissues. In addition, glucose is the primary source of fuel for your brain.

The health consequences of inadequate diabetes treatment can be severe. Potential complications include kidney failure, blindness, stroke, renal failures, limb amputation, diabetic foot ulcers, and more. In some cases, pregnant women may suffer from gestational diabetes, which must also be managed properly to avoid detrimental health effects to both the mother and the fetus.

Continue Reading ›

Doctors are supposed to treat broken bones and fractures in ways that will improve the problem, rather than make it worse. Unfortunately, this does not always happen. If you or someone close to you has received negligent treatment for a broken bone that exacerbated the injury, we can help. At Arfaa Law Group, our experienced medical negligence attorneys have the skill and determination to pursue the compensation you deserve for your harm.

A fracture refers to the cracking or breaking of a bone. It can range from a thin crack to a complete break. All bone fractures are classified in one of two ways:  a simple fracture or a compound fracture. A simple fracture is defined as a broken bone within the body that does not pierce the skin. A compound fracture, also sometimes known as an open fracture, refers to a broken bone or broken bones that pierce through the skin and expose the bone.

Continue Reading ›

Lasik eye surgery has become increasingly popular over the years to help correct people’s vision and free them from the confines of glasses or corrective lenses. While the procedure is relatively safe, there are times when the procedure does not deliver the intended result. If you or someone close to you has experienced vision problems or an eye injury due to laser eye surgery, you should reach out to a skilled Baltimore medical malpractice attorney who can review the facts of your case.

According to the United States Food and Drug Administration, about 600,000 Lasik procedures are performed each year in the United States. The American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery reports that Lasik eye surgery has an extremely high success rate, with 96 percent of patients achieving 20/20 vision or better.

Lasik eye surgery, also known as refractive eye surgery, is the term used to describe surgical procedures that correct common vision problems, such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, and presbyopia. The surgery corrects an individual’s vision through a laser reshaping the inner cornea. Specifically, the doctor makes an incision in the cornea so that the small flap of the clear tissue of the eye can be lifted up. Once this happens, the laser beam reshapes the corneal tissue under the flap. If done properly, the cornea should heal, and the patient should no longer need eyeglasses or corrective lenses.

Continue Reading ›

When you undergo surgery, you put your trust in the hands of the surgeon and other medical professionals who will be completing the procedure. While every surgery carries some inherent risk, patients are often injured due to a physician’s error. If you or a loved one has suffered from a bowel perforation after surgery, it is important to reach out to a seasoned Baltimore medical malpractice attorney who can evaluate the facts of your case. We can seek answers as to what happened to you and help you determine your next steps.

A bowel or gastrointestinal perforation, also known as a ruptured bowel, is when the bowel is punctured in some way. The GI tract includes the bowel, intestines, and colon. A bowel perforation creates a leak in the gastrointestinal tract that spreads food, fecal matter, and other bacteria into the area, which can lead to serious infections such as peritonitis, a blood poisoning infection known as sepsis, internal bleeding, or even death. Physicians should carefully inspect the bowel before finishing surgery. In fact, it is critical to the patient’s well being that his or her doctor identify and treat any injury to the bowel in a timely manner before it gets any worse.

Continue Reading ›

When you go to see a doctor, you trust that you will receive reliable and competent care. The sad reality is that this is not always the case. Doctors often make mistakes that have serious consequences for a patient’s health. If you or someone close to you was harmed by a doctor’s failure to recognize a heart attack, you may be able to file a medical malpractice claim against that doctor. At Arfaa Law Group, we can meticulously evaluate the facts of your case and determine your legal options.

Unfortunately, heart attacks are very common in Maryland and throughout the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every 43 seconds, someone in the United States has a heart attack. Each year, approximately 735,000 Americans have a heart attack – about 525,000 are a first heart attack, while 210,000 happen to people who have already had a first attack. The American Heart Association reports that heart disease is the number one killer in Maryland.

When a patient complains about chest pains, coupled with shortness of breath or pain in the arm, a medical professional should immediately investigate for a potential heart attack. Doctors and other medical professionals are highly trained to recognize the signs of a heart attack. A patient who presents the symptoms of a heart attack should be carefully evaluated before being released from the hospital. If a doctor fails to recognize a heart attack, a patient can suffer serious consequences, including death. Put simply, a timely diagnosis may be able to prevent irreversible heart damage.

Continue Reading ›

Patients who are undergoing radiation should be carefully and closely monitored to make sure they do not suffer any harm. When a medical professional makes an error while using radiation to treat cancer, the patient can be seriously injured or even killed. If you or someone close to you has suffered a radiation error, it is important to speak to an experienced Baltimore medical malpractice attorney. At Arfaa Law Group, we understand the nuances of malpractice law and can help determine a course of action for your claim.

Radiation undoubtedly saves countless lives, but too much radiation can be lethal. Radiation therapy is one of the most common treatments for cancer and involves using high-energy radiation to kill or damage cancer cells. The problem with excessive radiation is that it can damage the normal, healthy cells in a patient’s body. Radiation injuries can be very difficult to treat. In fact, many times, patients just have to deal with the injury because recovery is not possible.

Radiation errors can happen in a number of ways, including physician or hospital staff errors due to staff shortages or inattentiveness, machine malfunctions, erroneous prescriptions for radiation therapy, improper inspection of equipment, and radiation beams being positioned incorrectly that end up treating the wrong part of the body.

Continue Reading ›

A West Virginia court recently issued an opinion highlighting one of the challenges that plaintiffs may face when their injuries took place at a hospital or doctor’s office. In this case, the issue was whether a patient’s slip and fall claim should have been classified as a premises liability claim or a medical malpractice claim. The court eventually decided that since the injury took place when the patient was receiving “health care related” services, the case should be deemed a medical malpractice claim.

The facts of the case are as follows. A woman took her husband to an urgent care facility, where a staff member directed them to a private examination room. The staff member told the patient to sit on the examination table and wait for the physician to arrive. As the man tried to get onto the table, he fell. Not long after the incident, the man died as a result of complications from the fall.

The man’s wife filed a premises liability claim against the urgent care facility. Premises liability is a legal doctrine that generally comes into play in personal injury cases in which an injury is caused by some type of unsafe or defective condition on someone’s property. The urgent care facility responded, stating that the lawsuit should have been filed under the state’s medical malpractice statute because it was “related” to the provision of health care services. The court agreed.

Continue Reading ›

Burn injuries can cause serious skin damage. The severity of a burn injury will depend on the intensity of the heat and the length of exposure. When you go to a hospital or outpatient facility to be treated for a burn injury, you expect the healthcare providers to make the condition better, not worse. Unfortunately, in some cases, healthcare providers choose treatments that exacerbate the situation. If this has happened to you, it is important to reach out to a skilled Baltimore medical malpractice attorney who can help.

A burn injury may be caused by heat, chemicals, radiation and/or electricity. Every year, over 2 million burn injuries are reported across the United States. According to the National Institute of Health, approximately 40 percent of all burn victims sustain serious and/or permanent disabilities from their injuries. The American Burn Association reports that in 2016, there were 40,000 hospitalizations related to burn injuries, including 30,000 at hospital burn centers.

The first step to treating any burn injury is to identify the source of the burn because different types of burns may present differently and may require different types of care. Examining the source of the burn also helps the healthcare provider classify the degree of the burn properly.

Continue Reading ›

While administering an IV is a routine procedure in most hospitals and clinics, it can also be dangerous. Every year, IV errors injure a number of patients in Maryland and throughout the United States. These errors can have serious and even life-threatening consequences for a patient. If you or someone close to you has been the victim of an IV error, you may be entitled to compensation. At The Arfaa Law Group, our seasoned Baltimore medical negligence team will analyze the facts of your case and help you understand your legal options. You can rest assured that we will advocate for you every step of the way.

Intravenous (IV) therapy involves infusing liquid (i.e., blood or medication) directly into a vein. IV errors can take place in a number of ways including, but not limited to:

• Errors in preparing the IV medication;
• Errors in administrating the IV medication;
• Incompatible combination of drugs;
• Improperly injecting medication;
• Administering the IV at the wrong time;
• Overdose or wrong dose of the drug;
• Technical errors with IV valves and pumps.

Continue Reading ›