Pittsburgh Wrongful Death Law Blog

It made national headlines when Gov. Chris Christie went through lap-band surgery. The governor, who seemed fine after the surgery, had the procedure done by the same doctor who is facing a wrongful death lawsuit after a patient died a few months after going through the lap-band surgery. In that case, the woman was just 27 years old.

Gastric banding, commonly called the lap-band, is a weight loss surgery. With this type of surgery, an adjustable silicone band is put around the upper part of the stomach. This then reduces how much food the stomach can hold.

A good number of accidents happen in the Pittsburgh area due to drivers just not paying attention. And while we tend to focus on distractions from talking and texting on cellphones, the truth is that there are also many accidents where the driver simply zoned out while driving and did not realize the vehicle in front of them had come to a stop. 

Recently, there was a three vehicle accident in Fayette County between a school van and two other vehicles. According to authorities, the accident happened when a school van crashed into another vehicle that was stalled along Route 119. A third car was also involved and reportedly hit the school van.

Infants are very susceptible to injury during delivery. In many case, it all comes down to monitoring and time. This means that if there is an issue going on, and the baby is distressed, it may be critical for medical staff to act quickly and deliver the baby through an emergency cesarean section.

Doctors, nurses and medical staff in Pennsylvania know how important it is to monitor mom and baby during delivery, yet there are still times when mistakes are made. These mistakes or lapses in judgement can lead to lifelong disability.

In our last post we wrote about how hospitals and medical staff have an obligation to keep the premises clean in order to avoid patient infection. With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting roughly 100,000 deaths a year from hospital-acquired infection, this is a measure that should not be taken lightly.

Last month the CDC issued an alarm regarding bacteria that is resistant to one class of antibiotics. The intestinal bug, Clostridium difficile, known as C-diff, is responsible for 14,000 deaths a year. It first started to get attention 10 years ago.

Being in the hospital is already bad enough. Even with friendly staff and a comfortable bed, most Pennsylvania residents will agree that there is just something unsettling about being in the hospital. Feelings aside though, when a patient is in the hospital, the staff there have an obligation to keep the premises clean and to try and prevent hospital acquired infections. 

For the most part, hospitals throughout Pennsylvania -- and the rest of the state -- have cleaning procedures that are supposed to be followed. In some cases hospitals have machines that look like robots that shoot out ultraviolet light. In other cases there is germ-resistant call buttons, IV poles and bed rails. Hand-washing is also recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Most Pennsylvania residents are aware of the issues tied to suffering from a traumatic brain injury. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, some of the many issues after suffering from a brain injury include memory problems, issues processing sights and sounds, personality changes and depression.

Over the past several years traumatic brain injuries have been a real public health concern. The connection between taking a sudden hit to the head during a sporting event and the life-changing effects has resulted in more studies being done in order to prevent these injuries from happening in the first place.

The family of a 10-year-old girl who suffers from cerebral palsy was recently awarded a $130 million judgment. The award came after an $8 million settlement was rejected.

According to the attorney, who convinced the family to not accept the $8 million settlement in 2009, the worst part about this case is that if there was better communication between the nursing team and the obstetrician -- just minutes sooner -- the baby could have been delivered and avoided the birth injury. However, since this did not happen, the baby was deprived of oxygen, which led to cerebral palsy.

While much has been made about the dangers of distracted driving and driving under the influence of alcohol, less attention has been focused on the hazards involved in drowsy driving. According to a new study, motorists who get behind the wheel when fatigued are responsible for a large number of motor vehicle accidents across the country.