All surgery must be done in sterile conditions. In normal life, there are bacteria everywhere, hundreds of types of bacteria, plus viruses and other micro-organisms. Our natural immunity usually protects us from the harmful ones. In a hospital there are even more bacteria than elsewhere and they say a hospital floor is the dirtiest place on the planet.
This means that when doing a surgical procedure, all personnel in the room must have thoroughly washed their hands, be wearing masks, gloves, and gowns, and use only sterilized instruments. The patient is highly vulnerable, being already sick or injured, and having their skin incised for the procedure. If harmful bacteria are allowed to enter the patient’s body, for instance from an unsterile instrument or a doctor’s exposed breath, infection can quickly set in. Violation of sterile conditions is a form of medical malpractice.
Some other instances of medical malpractice during a surgery are:
- Operating on the wrong side of the body (e.g. left foot instead of right foot)
- Leaving something in the patient’s body, such as a sponge
- Inadequately monitoring the patient’s vital signs
- Administering the wrong dose of anesthesia
There are too many other examples to list. If you think you or a loved one may have suffered from such medical negligence, give us a call or send an email right away.
An Indiana bar has been ordered to pay a settlement of $704,649 to a motorcyclist who is totally disabled as a result of a crash caused by a drunk driver who had been a patron at Jake's Roadhouse in West Lafayette, Indiana. Christopher Harmon, 22, has been in a coma since the accident in September 2004 where he suffered a traumatic brain injury.
The Harmons agreed to accept the settlement with the bar's insurance company, Lexington Insurance Company, under a $1 million liquor liability insurance policy issued to Jake's Roadhouse; in exchange, the Harmons release the bar from further legal responsibility.
The patron who left Jake's after drinking, 24-year-old Nicole M. Fox, drove left of center that night causing three motorcyclists to crash. Fox drove away from the crash and was uncooperative with police when they caught up with her farther down the road. Ms. Fox had been arrested in December 2003 for public intoxication and underage drinking, and she was arrested for drunken driving just two weeks before the September crash that injured the cyclists. The judge in the case imposed a 14-year sentence, the maximum under Fox's plea agreement, and suspended four years.
Another motorcyclist involved in the wreck, Jerry Raiff, is confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
If you or a loved one has been injured or killed in an automobile or motorcycle accident in Hartford or anywhere in Connecticut , please contact an experienced auto or motorcycle accident lawyer at Trantolo & Trantolo LLC.
A Sacramento lawsuit set for trial in late summer 2007 claims the Ford Motor Company deceived consumers about the safety of the Ford Explorer, a sport utility vehicle (SUV), first built in the 1990's. The class-action Sacramento lawsuit was brought on behalf of over 400,000 Explorer owners; a Ford defense lawyer said a lawsuit of this magnitude could put the automaker at risk of collapse. The case will not be decided by a jury but by Sacramento Superior Court Judge David DeAlba.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs feel no sympathy for Ford's financial situation and claim that Ford should be punished for falsely marketing the Explorer's safety and reliability. The lawsuit contends that Ford knew that the Explorers were defective in that they were prone to rollover because of the high center of gravity of the vehicle. If the judge finds that Ford kept important safety information from the consumers then the company could lose billions of dollars it's made in profits in the last several years.
This SUV rollover lawsuit is the first class-action lawsuit of its kind, may last as long as several months and will have at least six lawyers arguing each side of the case.
If you or a loved one has been injured or killed in an SUV rollover accident in Hartford or anywhere in Connecticut, please contact the SUV Rollover Accident lawyers at Trantolo & Trantolo LLC today to schedule your initial consultation.
