Detroit Medical Malpractice Blog

The da Vinci Surgical System is a robotic instrument that allows surgeons to create tiny incisions in their patients. The device purportedly allows surgeons to create incisions with a level of accuracy that cannot be achieved by the traditional tools of hands and a scalpel.

Because of its high potential for successful surgeries, the da Vinci system has quickly become in high demand across the nation. Unfortunately, the aggressive push for innovative surgery has pushed some doctors to use the da Vinci robot on patients without first attaining a proper amount of skill and experience. While the da Vinci device has the ability to benefit patients, it can easily hurt them through surgical mistakes made by an inexperienced surgeon.

A successful surgeon needs steady hands and good judgment, two things not commonly associated with doctors who have drug and alcohol problems. That makes the results of a recent medical study particularly unsettling for patients across the nation. According to University of Washington researchers, 15 percent of surgeons abuse alcohol or have dependency issues.

The study scrutinized the survey answers of 7,200 surgeons and uncovered many alcohol or drug problems through a series of questions about the participants' work, mood and lifestyle choices. Surgeons with drinking problems were 45 percent more likely to report making a major medical error in the past three months when compared to colleagues showing no signs of alcohol or drug dependency.

After roughly eight years, an Indiana woman's medical malpractice claim has finally been resolved via a favorable jury verdict. The $1.5 million jury award is bittersweet; however, because the woman's suffering will continue throughout her lifetime.

In 2003, a 21-year-old woman visited the hospital with severe abdominal pain. She consulted a surgeon, who advised her to have part of her intestines removed the following day. The patient agreed and returned for her surgery, but the doctor changed his mind and said they could delay the procedure. The woman's condition worsened over several days and she ended up having emergency surgery performed by another surgeon.

A number of Zoloft birth defect lawsuits have been filed recently across the country. The lawsuits have raised claims that Zoloft taken by pregnant mothers have caused severe birth defects, some fatal. The defects include persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPH), heart defects, lung defects, abdominal defects, cranial defects and other malformations. The lawsuits have alleged the manufacturer of Zoloft, Pfizer, intentionally covered up data for years that demonstrates Zoloft was dangerous to pregnant women and their unborn children. It is also alleged Pfizer knew of the risks from studies, did not properly study Zoloft, and did not properly publish the data which would have reflected the risk. Even today Pfizer continues to deny the dangers and has not revised its drug labeling.