A lawsuit is currently seeking class action status after it was discovered that there may have been a possible exposure to hepatitis C exposure has been filed against a Pittsburgh hospital. A technician at the hospital has already been jailed as a result.

The estate of a patient that suffered from cirrhosis after undergoing surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is among the plaintiffs in the case. The lawsuit is filed against the UPMC as well a staffing agency that placed the technician at the medical center.

The lawsuit claims that the hospital is negligent because it failed to fire the technician after he was caught stealing needles. The technician faces federal drug charges in New Hampshire and has plead not guilty to tampering with the needles or attempting to steal drugs. Out of the 17 plaintiffs in the lawsuit, three have tested positive for hepatitis C. Officials at the hospital have not yet made a comment on the case.

October is designated as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in order to raise funds and awareness for the disease that affects the lives of so many.  One out of every eight women in America will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their lives, making regular breast cancer exams and screenings extremely important.

Screening for breast cancer is usually done with a mammogram machine, which allows doctors to see if there are any lumps in a woman’s breasts.

While it is known that the risk of developing breast cancer increases with age, the exact cause of the disease is still unknown. Some risk factors include obesity, genetic mutations, alcohol consumption, radiation therapy, and a family history of the disease.

Early detection of breast cancer is imperative for increasing your chances of survival. If you or a loved one has been misdiagnosed with breast cancer, you need a legal representative on your side that can help you fight for justice. Contact the Scranton misdiagnosis lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., today.

A medical malpractice victim in Santa Fe, New Mexico, won his lawsuit against Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center for the damages he suffered during a botched back surgery.

The man went to the hospital in May 2008 in order to have a herniated disk removed. However, the surgeon cut too deeply during the procedure, penetrating two major blood vessels. This internal bleeding caused the man to suffer cardiac arrest. He then required three additional surgeries to correct the damage.

The man claims that this resulted in irreparable nerve and brain damage. He was awarded $2 million for his suffering, and his former wife received $50,000, as they claimed the ordeal lead to their divorce.

If you have suffered a surgical error due to a hospital’s negligence, contact the Scranton medical malpractice lawsuit lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., by calling 610-667-7511.

A jury has recently awarded a family $21 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit after plaintiffs claimed that Harbor Hospital caused their child to be born with a permanent disability.

The child was born in 2002 after his mother went into labor prematurely. However, the lawsuit states that prior to the delivery, the child did not receive enough oxygen. As a result, doctors should have performed a Cesarean section to remove the child rather than continue with the vaginal delivery.

The child is now 9 years old and suffers from cerebral palsy, and his condition requires long-term medical care.

State officials in Ohio have created a program to crack down on the prescription drug abuse that occurs in nursing homes when employees steal medication from elderly patients.

Investigators who work with the state’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit are looking into claims of neglect and drug abuse occurring in nursing homes.

The theft of prescription medications is considered a form of nursing home neglect as it takes medications away from residents who rely on their prescriptions to remain healthy.

If your loved one has been the victim of nursing home abuse, you need legal representation on your side to help you get the compensation your elderly loved one deserves for his or her suffering. Contact the Scranton nursing home abuse lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., by calling 610-667-7511 today.

The kidney and pancreas donation project has recently been suspended after a kidney transplant patient received a mismatched kidney last week at Methodist Dallas Medical Center.

Hospital officials have stated that the donated kidney was compatible for the patient who received it and the surgery went off with out an complications, but it was not given to the correct person on the transplant list and this was not discovered until after the surgery was completed.

The process that takes place before a transplant surgery occurs was not followed correctly and officials have stated that the person responsible for the incident has been fired.

There are currently 330 patients on the waiting list and they were all notified of the error. If one of these patients becomes eligible for a transplant, the surgery will take place a another location.

If you have been the victim of a surgical error,  contact the Scranton surgical error lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., by calling 610-667-7511 today.

A recent study done by Harvard researchers shows that medical malpractice claims have decreased recently in Massachusetts after they switched to using electronic record keeping.

It is still being determined if the electronic record keeping has a direct link to the fewer number of claims, but research shows that these electronic filings improve patient safety by allowing doctors to track each patient much easier without having to rely on paper files.

E-records make it much easier for doctors to find issues and avoid problems such as medication conflicts due to allergies. Not everyone has come around to the idea of electronic storage of records,  but researchers with this study think that it may be a factor in recent decreases.

An Ohio woman filed a lawsuit against her Ob-Gyn after she received a chemical burn on her genitals during a surgical procedure. The medical malpractice case has now been settled and the woman received $600,000.

The procedure involved the removal of squamous intraepithelial lesions from her vulva. The surgeon meant to put diluted acid on the region, but instead placed the concentrated version on the area. The burns allegedly took months to heal and permanent issues were also left as a result. The woman also needed a follow up surgery to repair the area.

A dentist and anesthesiologist in Southern California has now been found liable for the death of a patient while she was under sedation prior to a dental surgery.

The lawsuit was filed by the patients family against the dentist that owns the Smile Implant Center in Newport Beach, California. According to the lawsuit, the patient was given propofol and benzodiazepine in January 2010.

Shortly after, the women went into respiratory failure and was transported to the hospital in order to be treated. She was then pronounced brain dead and her mother took her off life support a few days later.

Each day, nearly 400 people  nationwide die  from hospital errors that are preventable.  In efforts to combat this, 2,600 hospitals will now be receiving scores of A, B, C, D, or F that will be based on patient safety in the hospital.

The Hospital Safety Score will be decided by a Blue Ribbon Panel and will be calculated by data including medication errors, infections, patient injuries, and other medical errors that are available to the public.

The score will now shed light on the the best hospitals in the country and also alert people on hospitals that need to take more precaution. Recent studies show that one in every four Medicare patients will leave the hospital with a potentially fatal issue that they did not have prior to entering the hospital. Each year, 180,000 Americans die of an accident, error or infection that occurs from a hospital.