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Even skilled health care providers can make mistakes.
Unfortunately, it is the nature of medical care that
these mistakes may cause great damage to the patients
whom the medical professionals are trained to help.
As a result of today's intricate medical protocols
and technologies, medical malpractice lawsuits are some
of the most complicated personal injury cases to pursue.
In order for a case to succeed, the plaintiff's attorneys
must have encyclopedic knowledge of the relevant areas
of law and medicine.
At Golomb & Honik, we have handled a wide array of
medical malpractice cases ranging from failure to diagnose
cancer to nursing home negligence. We have also amassed
an impressive track record of successes. Our ability
to achieve these successes is in great part due to our
attention to detail and our responsiveness to clients
and referral attorneys. Read more about our work on
medical malpractice suits:
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A Golomb & Honik client went to a Philadelphia surgeon for the removal of a benign cyst on her neck. As anesthesia was being administered, her breathing rate decreased and the nurse anesthetist applied an oxygen mask to promote oxygen intake and increase her breathing rate. In doing so, she applied the oxygen mask on top of the nasal cannula which was being used as part of the normal anesthesia process. As a result of the nurse anesthetist’s failure to remove the nasal cannula while applying the oxygen mask, there was a slow leak which caused an oxygen enriched environment. During the course of the surgery, the general surgeon decided to use an electrical surgery unit (ESU) to remove the cyst. When the ESU was ignited an arc was caused; the surgical drapes caught on fire and so did the anesthetized patient’s face. As a result of the negligence of the various defendants, the Golomb & Honik client received third degree burns to her face; was transferred to a burn center where she remained for over a month; and, was forced to undergo seven (7) separate operative procedures to bring her face back to as before. On the eve of trial, the case was settled for a multi-million dollar confidential settlement with all defendants contributing.
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A confidential settlement was reached after a two-day mediation on behalf of a newborn that contracted pertussis and died while in the Defendant's neo-natal intensive care unit. The minor-decedent was delivered approximately six weeks premature and placed in the neo-natal intensive care unit. She was doing well until her fourth week when she started coughing. She was transferred from the unit and placed in an isolated room in the affiliated children's hospital. Within 24 hours thereafter, her condition worsened. She was transferred to another hospital in anticipation of transfusing her blood but she died before the procedure was performed. Golomb & Honik lawyers were able to determine through discovery of surveillance data for the Defendant hospital that one of the treating nurses in the Defendant's neo-natal intensive care unit had pertussis herself. This nurse had documented "whooping cough" days before Plaintiff- decedent showed signs of pertussis, but kept on working in violation of hospital policy. After extensive discovery, which included many depositions, and after a two-day mediation just before trial, the case settled for a confidential amount.
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In 1998, a Golomb & Honik client went to a podiatrist to evaluate a recurrent sore and shin splints on his left foot and leg. He was referred to a vascular surgeon and for doppler studies and a diagnosis of peripheral vascular disease was made. He was treated with medications and did alright for several years when he returned to a podiatrist due to recurrent corns on the other foot - this time seen by the earlier podiatrist’s partner. This defendant podiatrist decided to perform derotational arthroplasty on the plaintiff’s foot before reviewing her partner’s earlier records and before an appreciation that plaintiff had peripheral vascular disease in both legs resulting in a significant decrease in blood flow. The surgery was performed and within several months the plaintiff, a 53-year old Home Depot department manager, was a double amputee. Because of the peripheral vascular disease and resulting reduced blood flow, the surgery performed by the defendant podiatrist was contra-indicated. A referral to a vascular surgeon for bypass surgery to promote blood flow should have been performed before the podiatric surgery performed by the defendant podiatrist.As a result of the surgery performed, a systemic infection caused the ultimate loss of both legs.After a two (2)
week trial, a Berks County jury returned a verdict of just under $3,500,000.00 for the plaintiff. According to the trial judge, this is the largest verdict in Berks County history.
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The wheelchair used at a group home for disabled adults
had a history of chronic maintenance problems. Despite
being fitted for a seatbelt, the patient was repeatedly
found on the floor after having slipped from the chair.
The home failed to fix the chair, which ultimately
led to the disabled woman slipping from the belt in
such a way that it strangled her to death while she
was unattended. Golomb & Honik attorneys achieved
a confidential seven-figure settlement for her estate
and motivated the home to institute seminar training
for its entire staff to prevent incidents of this
kind in the future.
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confidential seven-figure settlement was obtained
on behalf of a 65-year-old man who developed severe
brain damage from an undiagnosed pericardial tamponade
after having been admitted to a local hospital to
undergo heart bypass surgery. The surgery was successful,
but one week after surgery he developed signs of respiratory
distress and chest pain. These signs went undiagnosed
until the man went into cardiac arrest. Although he
was revived, he was left in a severely neurologically
impaired condition requiring constant care.
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An actively employed 70-year-old woman had for years
taken medications to treat her low blood pressure
and thyroid condition. In the summer of 2001, she
picked up her prescriptions at a local nationally
franchised pharmacy and began taking them, as had
been her custom for more than 30 years. Within days
she noticed tightness in her chest and shortness of
breath, and she was hospitalized after testing revealed
that she had had a heart attack. She had never had
any cardiac symptoms or even been seen by a cardiologist,
and it was discovered that the pharmacy had dispensed
the wrong medicine. In fact, she had been given the
medicine of another woman with a similar name. The
combined effect of not having her correct medication
and taking the wrong medicines caused a heart attack
resulting in permanent heart damage. As a result she
became disabled from employment and is now under regular
cardiac care. In discovery, Golomb & Honik lawyers
established the clear negligence of the pharmacy in
discovery, liability was admitted, and the case was
resolved confidentially through binding alternative
dispute resolution.
- A young woman
was afflicted from birth with a skeletal abnormality
that confined her to a wheelchair by the time she
entered high school. Her congenital condition placed
her at risk for spinal compression and paralysis,
but for a period of weeks she suffered from advancing
spinal compression that was tragically ignored by
her primary care physician and subsequently in an
emergency room. As a result of the failure to diagnose
and treat this condition, she suffered incomplete
quadriplegia. Despite the presence of her significant
pre-existing medical conditions and disability, Golomb
& Honik was successful in obtaining a significant
recovery for her and her estate (she died of unrelated
causes after suit was commenced), thereby demonstrating
the value and importance of life even when the individual
harmed has already suffered a previous disability.
- An otherwise
healthy man in his mid-seventies was admitted into
the hospital for brain surgery. After successful surgery,
he was prepped for transfer from the intensive care
unit to a regular medical-surgical room. During that
process, he was left alone, fell from bed, and suffered
a subdural hematoma that, after a lengthy hospital
stay, ultimately caused his death. Suit was instituted
and discovery ensued. Nobody from the hospital was
present at the time of the fall, nor were the family
members who had just been evicted to allow the transfer.
The hospital challenged liability, insisting that
the bedrails were left up and claiming they did nothing
wrong. One of plaintiff's experts stated that it was
a physical impossibility for the man to lift himself
over the bed-rails, given the surgery he had undergone
just 24 hours earlier. Another expert opined that,
in any event, he should never have been left alone.
Depositions revealed that he had been left alone while
the nurse retrieved a chart after his transfer to
a gurney. The case was resolved for a confidential
settlement during trial.
- A confidential settlement was reached on behalf of the family of a stillborn child who died as a result of the failure of the treating obstetrician to diagnose and treat gestational diabetes. The plaintiff went to her gynecologist in her 12th week of pregnancy having already gained 23 pounds - a well known symptom of gestational diabetes. Subsequently, during the 22nd week of pregnancy, a standard glucose tolerance test was performed to determine or identify the existence of gestational diabetes. Because the test was done weeks before the test is ordinarily given, no further glucose tolerance studies were performed nor was gestational diabetes ever diagnosed. In fact, despite a total weight gain of 83 pounds during the course of the pregnancy, at no time were any further studies (i.e., glucose tolerance test, ultrasound, etc.) ever ordered. Finally, in the 41st week of pregnancy, the woman was naturally induced and the baby was delivered stillborn at 11 lbs. 9 oz. Less than two weeks prior to delivery, the defendant obstetrician had estimated the baby's weight at 7 lbs. Golomb & Honik attorneys established the negligence in providing the glucose tolerance test too early during the course of the pregnancy essentially masking, otherwise what would have been a positive test. Additionally, the defendants failed to investigate other significant risk factors to assist in the diagnosis of gestational diabetes. As a result, the parties agreed to binding arbitration and the case was resolved confidentially through this alternative dispute process.
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FF, as a four year old child, was molested while attending a Philadelphia daycare center. She did not tell anyone for more than two years although her behavior changed dramatically in the year the incident occurred. At the age of six, FF was watching a television program with her mother when a segment on pedophilia came on the screen. At that point, FF told her mother what had happened two years earlier when she was molested by the teenage son of the owner of the daycare center. Philadelphia Police and the Department of Human Services were contacted and, ultimately, the teenager was arrested, convicted and incarcerated.
G&H attorneys filed a civil lawsuit seeking damages for the child who underwent inpatient and outpatient therapy for a period of years. After extensive discovery and trial in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas a verdict was entered for the child in the amount of $390,000.00.
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