Medical Malpractice Law Firm
Pritzker Olsen Attorneys Medical Malpractice Blog

Pritzker Olsen attorneys have appeared on CBS News, Fox news, and numerous local television stations throughout the country. They have recovered millions for medical malpractice victims and their families. To contact our law firm, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or submit our free consultation form.

Medical Malpractice Wrongful Death

If you have lost a loved one to medical malpractice, you are not alone. 200,000 people in the United States will die this year from preventable medical errors and hospital infections, according to a report by the Hearst Corporation entitled, "Dead by Mistake."

Our lawyers represent families in medical malpractice wrongful death lawsuits. Our experience has been that the following scenarios are far more common than they should be:
  • Surgery in the wrong part of the body. For example, removing the wrong kidney, removing fat instead of a cancerous tumor, removing the wrong section of the colon for a patient with severe diverticulosis and replacing the wrong heart valve are all considered surgeon malpractice.
  • Medication error. Medication error is a huge problem on every level. Doctors make mistakes with prescriptions. Pharmacies give patients the wrong dose or wrong medication. Nurses in hospitals give patients the wrong dose or wrong medication.
  • Hospital infections. Many lawyers won't touch hospital infection cases because they can be hard to prove, but we have recovered compensation for patients who contracted infections after surgery.
To contact a lawyer at Pritzker Olsen about a medical malpractice wrongful death, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or submit our free consultation form. We are not paid unless you are.

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Rose Medical Hepatitis Outbreak and Victim Compensation

At least 11 cases of hepatitis C have been linked to a former employee of HealthOne Rose Medical Center in Denver, Colorado. The employee, Kristen Diane Parker, allegedly injected herself with painkillers, including fentanyl, meant for patients, then filled the used syringes with saline solution. She allegedly knew at the time that she was infected.


Hepatitis C is a contagious liver disease that can cause serious illness. It can take many years, but over time, a person with hepatitis C can develop the following:

* liver cancer
* liver failure or
* cirrhosis (irreversible and potentially fatal scarring of the liver).

A hepatitis C diagnosis drastically changes the quality of a person's life and is a death sentence for many. Compensation for hepatitis C victims should include amounts for future medical bills, pain and suffering, disability and loss of quality of life. Contact our lawyers about compensation for hepatitis C victims.

Ms. Parker worked at Rose Medical Center from October 2008 to April of 2009. She then worked at Audubon Surgery Center from May 2009 until her arrest by federal agents in June of 2009. No cases of hepatitis C have been linked to Audubon Surgery Center to date.

Rose Medical has notified 4,700 patients that they may have been infected with hepatitis C. Audubon Surgery Center notified 900.

If you have been diagnosed with hepatitis C, you should not sign anything before contacting an attorney. Our law firm has hepatitis litigation experience. To contact us, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or submit our free consultation form.

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Morphine Overdose: Nurse Malpractice Gives Baby Wrong Dose of Morphine

A baby at Boston Medical Center was administered the wrong dose of morphine and became ill, according to the Boston Herald. According to the story, the father of the baby was told that a nurse had accidentally “overdosed” the baby with morphine. Boston Medical Center issued a statement acknowledging a medication error involving an infant March 14.

When a nurse administers the wrong dose of a medication, it is negligence—nurse malpractice.

In nurse malpractice cases, the hospital is generally sued because it is legally responsible for work-related negligent behavior of hospital nurses. This is important, because the hospital has the resources and insurance coverage necessary to adequately compensate the injured patient.

If you or a loved one has been the victim of nurse malpractice, contact our law firm and tell us your story. If you decide to hire us, we will thoroughly investigate your case, hire necessary medical experts and take all measures necessary to help you obtain the compensation you deserve.

To contact a lawyer at PritzkerOlsen, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or submit our free consultation form.

Keywords: Nurse malpractice, lawyer for morphine overdose, hospital malpractice, wrong dose of morphine.

Reference: Jessica Fargen, Baby medical mixup: Newborn OK after morphine gaffe at Boston Medical Center, Boston Herald, March 20, 2009.

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Children Receiving Inadequate Medical Care - Medical Malpractice

A recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine assessed the extent to which care processes recommended for pediatric outpatients are delivered by analyzing the medical records of 1536 children. The results were not encouraging:
On average, according to data in the medical records, children in the study received 46.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 44.5 to 48.4) of the indicated care. They received 67.6% (95% CI, 63.9 to 71.3) of the indicated care for acute medical problems, 53.4% (95% CI, 50.0 to 56.8) of the indicated care for chronic medical conditions, and 40.7% (95% CI, 38.1 to 43.4) of the indicated preventive care.

Quality varied according to the clinical area, with the rate of adherence to indicated care ranging from 92.0% (95% CI, 89.9 to 94.1) for upper respiratory tract infections to 34.5% (95% CI, 31.0 to 37.9) for preventive services for adolescents.
Deficits in the quality of care provided to children appear to be similar in magnitude to those previously reported for adults. Strategies to reduce these apparent deficits are needed. (Quote from below-referenced article, "The Quality of Ambulatory Care Delivered to Children in the United States")
Poor medical care for children is unacceptable. Now that we know children are at risk, we need to find why their care is not adequate and fix the problems. Continuing medical education, a requirement for maintaining a medical license, should have mandatory courses on juvenile health. Also, agreed-upon basic guidelines for care need to be established, and federal and state governments need to make sure this basic care is paid for by public or private insurance.
For a number of reasons it is in our country’s best interests to care for our children. For those who can’t think beyond their pocketbook, adequate medical care for our children now will prevent future medical expenses when they become adults.

If you suspect that your child received inadequate medical care and was seriously injured as a result, please contact a medical malpractice attorney at Pritzker | Olsen. Attorneys Fred Pritzker and Elliot Olsen have been named “Super Lawyers” by Law & Politics magazine. For a free consultation, call 1-888-377-8900 (toll-free) or submit our free case consultation form.

Article: "The Quality of Ambulatory Care Delivered to Children in the United States,"
Rita Mangione-Smith, M.D., M.P.H., Alison H. DeCristofaro, M.P.H., Claude M. Setodji, Ph.D., Joan Keesey, B.A., David J. Klein, M.S., John L. Adams, Ph.D., Mark A. Schuster, M.D., Ph.D., and Elizabeth A. McGlynn, Ph.D., The New England Journal of Medicine, October 11, 2007, Volume 257: 1515-1523.

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Pritzker Olsen attorneys have appeared on national television and have been quoted by national publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Associated Press and Lawyers USA. Attorneys Fred Pritzker, Elliot Olsen and Eric Hageman have been named "Super Lawyers" by Law and Politics magazine (2008 and previous years). Attorney Fred Pritzker is also listed in the current edition (2008) of The Best Lawyers in America. To contact Pritzker Olsen Attorneys, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or submit the firm's free consultation form.

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Medical Malpractice Topics

Pharmacy Error Settlement

Our law firm recently negotiated a settlement for the family of a woman who was given ten times the prescribed dose of cochicine.

 

$950,000 Recovery for Failure to Diagnose Septic Arthritis

Attorneys Fred Pritzker and Elliot Olsen recently secured a $950,000 recovery on behalf of a young man who developed septic arthritis eight days following knee surgery.

 

Heart Lead Extraction Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

Pritzker | Olsen attorneys are representing patients and their families nationwide in product liability and medical malpractice cases involving defective Medtronic Sprint Fideles defibrillator leads. Several patients have died during surgery to remove the defective Medtronic lead.

 

Dental Malpractice: Oral Surgery and Burn Injuries

The FDA has recently stated that poorly-maintained dental equipment has resulted in severe burns. These cases could involve both dental malpractice and product liability claims.

 

Hospital Malpractice Lawsuits

Hospital malpractice includes any type of medical negligence that occurs in a hospital setting, including errors by doctors, nurses, technicians and other hospital staff.

 

Neurosurgery Errors

Surgical errors are common and can lead to serious injury or death. In an article in the medical journal Neurosurgery that reported on a study of 1108 elective neurosurgical procedures, a neurosurgeon recorded 2684 errors in 87.1% of the cases. 22.6% of the errors were considered major. 78.5% of the errors were deemed preventable.

 

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