Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice involves claims against a health care professional who fails to act reasonably in providing medical care to a patient. It usually involves care from a doctor or nurse but also includes other health care providers who work at hospitals and clinics and provide specialized services to patients. When the health care provider causes an injury or death to a patient, the patient has the right to sue for damages caused by the injury. Wisconsin has special laws that apply only to medical malpractice claims. These laws require special filings, impose special filing deadlines and place limits on legal fees and the patient's right of recovery of damages. Medical malpractice cases are very expensive to pursue. It is important to discuss your possible medical malpractice claim with an attorney who is experienced in this area of the law.  

Cannon & Dunphy have handled many medical malpractice cases arising from an obstetrician's or general physician's failure to provide proper care.

Failure to perform a timely c-section which results in a cerebral palsy brain injury caused by ischemia before birth should always be investigated by an experienced medical malpractice trial attorney. Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, which occurs when the fetus has decreased blood flow from the placenta and decreased oxygen levels, is known to cause cerebral palsy if the fetus is not delivered in a timely fashion. The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology has set forth criteria on the relationship between the events occurring before birth (i.e.: hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy) and cerebral palsy.

1. A blood pH of less than 7;

2. A hypoxic event occurring immediately before delivery;

3. Sustained fetal bradycardia or the absence of variability in the presence of persistent late decelerations or persistent variable declarations;

4. Apgar scores of 0-3 after the first 5 minutes on the baby's life outside the womb;

5. Onset of multisystem involvement within 72 hours of birth;

6. Early radiographic (i.e.: head ultrasound or CT scan) evidence of brain damage.

Any diagnosis of hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy or cerebral palsy that may have a relationship to events that occurred around the time of birth should always be investigated by an experienced medical malpractice trial attorney.

A sample of Cannon & Dunphy's previous results in Medical Malpractice cases:

  • $35.3 million jury verdict to the family of a premature infant who suffered brain damage as a result of air emboli introduced into venous system during blood transfusion. Infant was two weeks post birth at time of transfusion, off the respirator, stable and progressing nicely with no significant problems.  Jury awarded future care costs of $20 million, past and future pain and suffering to child in the amount of $5.5 million, $1.5 million lost of earning capacity for the child, $3 million to each parent for loss of their minor child's society and companionship, $1.7 million for nursing care and services and $640,000 for past medical expenses.  This is the largest compensatory damage personal injury verdict in Wisconsin history.*
     

  • $25.24 million award jury verdict, judgment and settlement to the parents and estate of their daughter against a resident physician for failing to diagnose an acute abdomen in a 15 year old girl and failing to seek a consultation from a senior resident over the next 11 hours which led to the ischemic death of her small bowel and its removal. Complications from this loss of small bowel required 89 additional subsequent surgeries, including two failed small bowel transplants, which ultimately led to her death two years later.  This is the second largest medical malpractice award in Wisconsin history.*
     

  • $16 million awarded to a patient in a medical malpractice case where a physician inappropriately ordered high dose steroids for an undiagnosed condition. The doctor discontinued the steroids in the face of an infection masked by the steroids. This event sent the patient into an Addisonian Shock, which destroyed her nerves and muscles. This caused her to become a quadriplegic.  This case represents the largest medical malpractice pretrial settlement in Wisconsin.*
     

  • $12 million awarded to the family of an infant who suffered a cerebral palsy brain injury at birth due to a failure to perform a timely C-section.
     

  • $10.46 medical malpractice judgment for brain damage to newborn caused by medical clinic's delay in bringing newborn in for treatment of acute feeding problems and subsequent dehydration. (co-counsel)
     

  • $10 million medical malpractice award to an 8-month-old baby boy for the negligence of a doctor in prescribing an overdose of morphine which caused severe brain damage.
     

  • $10 million medical malpractice settlement involving a 10-year-old boy. Arterial and venous lines from a heart/lung machine were reversed during open heart surgery resulting in severe brain damage.   This is the first eight figure personal-injury settlement in Wisconsin history.*
     

  • $9.8 million award by State Patients Compensation Panel because of a delay in administrating asthma medication.  This is the largest medical malpractice panel award in Wisconsin history.*
     

  • $7 million award in a medical malpractice case for the failure of a family practice physician to call the attending obstetrician for an emergency caesarean section. Baby suffered severe late heart rate decelerations during labor and delivery causing severe brain damage.
     

  • $6.3 million award against an HMO for failing to diagnose cervical cancer in a 28-year-old woman and failing to have proper laboratory testing of pap smears. This case was featured in People Magazine, Milwaukee Magazine, The New York Times and 20/20.
     

  • $5 million awarded in a medical malpractice settlement to a patient whose pathologist misdiagnosed a brain lesion, treatable with steroid medication, as a malignant tumor. The misdiagnosis resulted in an unnecessary surgical removal of a portion of his brain rendering him a totally disabled hemiplegic with severe brain damage.
     

  • $4.8 million settlement awarded to a family against an Emergency Room physician who negligently diagnosed ventricular tachycardia on an EKG and negligently ordered medicine which caused the heart to stop for almost 20 minutes. The doctor also failed to timely resuscitate the 67 year old patient causing severe brain damage which placed the patient in a persistent vegetative state.
     

  • $4.1 million settlement for medical malpractice. The plaintiff suffered a massive hemorrhage during the delivery of her ninth child. Prior to the delivery ultrasounds revealed that her placenta had grown into the wall of her uterus. This condition required a hysterectomy immediately following cesarean delivery. Instead of doing a hysterectomy, the defendant obstetrician tried to pull the placenta off the uterine wall and caused the hemorrhage. The plaintiff's massive blood loss eventually caused her heart to stop and she lost oxygen to her brain before being successfully resuscitated. She is now permanently brain damaged.
     

  • $3.25 million settlement for child who suffered brain injury from oxygen deprivation during labor and delivery. Baby was delivered at St. Mary's Hospital in Rhinelander in August of 1994. The fetal monitor strip showed a heart rate pattern caused by repeated umbilical cord compression. The attending obstetrician stood by and watched this heart rate pattern for 6 hours without intervening. By the time a cesarean section was done, the baby suffered permanent neurological damage which has left her with cerebral palsy.
     

  • $3.1 million verdict in a medical malpractice case involving the failure to properly treat a DPT vaccine reaction resulting in brain damage to a child.
     

  • $2.45 million settlement in a medical malpractice case arising from a neurosurgeon failing to properly perform a fusion on a 52-year-old patient. As a result, the drill came in contact with the spinal cord causing paraplegia.
     

  • $2.2 million verdict in a medical malpractice case against the United States. The defendant's surgeon incorrectly connected the cannula during open heart surgery causing extensive brain damage in a 52-year-old woman. The case was featured on the CBS television program "60 Minutes" and in The New York Times.
     

  • $1.65 million settlement in a medical malpractice case where a doctor failed to diagnose a spinal cord infection which caused paralysis.
     

  • $1.625 million settlement in a medical malpractice case. Defendants were sued for failure to diagnose a brain tumor in a 72-year-old woman.
     

  • $1.2 million settlement in a medical malpractice case. Physicians failed to diagnose and treat an abscess which resulted in compression of the spinal cord and paralysis of the client. 
     

  • $1 million awarded to a 65-year-old rendered a hemiplegic when a physician failed to diagnose and treat bacterial endocarditis. 

*Cannon & Dunphy, S.C. has more $10 million and higher awards than any other personal injury law firm in Wisconsin. This information is based on published and publicly available information.

The results depend on the facts of each case.