Tonsillectomy Lawsuit Due to Taste Loss

An ENT was sued for $1.5 million dollars for normal taste loss that occurred after tonsillectomy that was performed in 2009. The jury did not find the ENT negligent, but awarded the money due to failure to obtain "informed consent." Given the patient is a restaurant owner and cook, the loss of normal taste has impacted his life tremendously. [ link ] Taste loss/alteration after tonsillectomy is an extremely rare complication... like very rare to the point where it is worth writin…

5/11/2015 0

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Lawsuit Over Neck Cancer Misdiagnosed by Smell

In December 2012, a physician assistant (PA) excised a 3 cm right neck mass from a patient. In perhaps one of the more bizarre steps taken in this case, the physician assistant than smelled the excised mass, declared it non-cancerous, and threw it out in the garbage. Unfortunately, it was actually cancer which was correctly diagnosed 6 months later after the mass which had regrown was excised and sent to pathology by a doctor. The patient ultimately underwent a radical neck dissection and …

8/01/2014 0

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Man Files $15 million Lawsuit Against NYC Citi Bike Claiming Smell Loss From Bike Crash

Image by Pharos of Wikipedia In 2013, a man rented a bicycle from New York City's Citi Bike program. Apparently while riding this rental bike, the front wheel struck a wheelstop installed near a bicycle docking station which the man did not notice, flipping him resulting in head trauma. This head trauma resulted in permanent smell and taste loss. [ link ] The wheelstop is meant to prevent cars from from backing into bike stations, but the lawsuit alleges "no cones or colored wa…

3/30/2014 0

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Man Sues ENT for Wrongful Tracheostomy

Image from ParaMedicine101 In December 2012, a West Virginia man suffered angioedema causing tongue swelling due to a not uncommon reaction from lisinopril . Presumably due to airway concern from the tongue swelling, an urgent tracheostomy (cutting a hole in the throat) was performed. The patient later filed suit against the ENT who performed the tracheostomy stating that it was unnecessary as the tongue swelling was getting better. [ link ] Although a tracheostomy is not always perf…

2/05/2014 0

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Should Risk of Death Always be Part of the Surgical Consent?

Ever since reports of alleged medical negligence came up in the case of 13 years old Jahi McMath who suffered cardiac arrest and subsequent brain death after a "routine" tonsillectomy that occurred Dec 9, 2013, the question has come up whether risk of death should become part of every single surgical procedure's informed consent no matter how rare that risk might be. It also brings up the question whether patients would want to hear every single possible conceivable risk that m…

1/09/2014 0

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Lawsuit for Botched Laser Vocal Cord Surgery

In February 2012, an ENT surgeon removed vocal cord polyps using a laser while the patient was asleep with a Medtronic Laser-Shield II endotracheal tube. Unfortunately, the laser perforated the endotracheal tube, ignited the 100% oxygen being used at the time resulting in catastrophic burns to the patient. [ link ] Subsequent lawsuit resulted in favor of the patient who received an award totaling $30 million on 12/5/13. What Happened? Even though an endotracheal tube meant for use with…

12/11/2013 0

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