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ERROR 4 Emma, Malpractice 22 U.S. Code § 2702, Iowa State code
ERROR 4
Emma,
Malpractice 22 U.S. Code § 2702, Iowa State code § 147.136 Economic Damages
The article addresses malpractice 22 U.S. Code § 2702, and it is a birth injury that happens to be one of the three most common types of malpractice. These types of injuries happen mainly during childbirth and are estimated to be anywhere from “6 to 8 out of every 1,000 infants born in the United States” (Maronick Law LLC, 2020). In Iowa City, Iowa the Kromphardt family issued a malpractice suit against Mercy Hospital after their baby was harmed during childbirth. Mercy Hospital was found guilty of medical malpractice in the form of birth trauma and the family was awarded 97.4 million dollars. This amount was split between Mercy Hospital and the attending OB-GYN Dr. Jill Goodman. When the Kromphardt family went into the hospital to have their third child the baby, Scotty, had “a non-reassuring fetal heart rate on the fetal heart rate monitor” (Trial Lawyers University, 2022). Despite the heart rate of the baby Dr. Goodman decided to slow down the labor of Mrs. Kromphardt to deliver two other babies when the baby needed to be delivered. Dr. Goodman did have a room set up for a caesarian but did not utilize it. After being gone for an hour Scotty the baby was in “terminal bradycardia” the doctor attempted to proceed with a vaginal birth and tried using the forceps and a vacuum extractor to deliver the baby. While the baby was in the NICU the doctors found a skull fracture from having the forceps used during the delivery and the vacuum caused excessive brain bleeding and “hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, brain damage from a lack of oxygen” (Trial Lawyers University, 2022). The doctor knowing that the baby had heart rate issues should have taken Mrs. Kromphardt to have a caesarian. Mercy Hospital and Dr. Jill Goodman tried claiming that baby Scotty had the skull fracture before delivery even though there had been no documentation of that in the medical records before delivery. This case was tried civilly, and the family was awarded 97.4 million dollars to take care of future medical care, loss of future earnings, and pain and suffering (Reevie, 2022).
Maronick Law LLC. (2020, September 14). Three common types of medical malpractice cases. Maronick Law LLC. https://www.maronicklaw.com/blog/2017/07/three-common-types-of-medical-malpractice-cases/
Reevie, C. (2022, March 23). Jury reaches $97.4 million verdict in Iowa City Medical Malpractice Case. https://www.kcrg.com. https://www.kcrg.com/2022/03/24/jury-reaches-974-million-verdict-iowa-city-medical-malpractice-case/
Trial Lawyers University. (2022, March 30). Kromphardt v. mercy hospital – $97,400,000 med mal/birth trauma verdict – Geoffrey Fieger, webinar hosted by Nick Rowley. TLU Virtual. https://tluvirtual.com/event/kromphardt-v-mercy-hospital-97400000-med-mal-birth-trauma-verdict-geoffrey-fieger-hosted-by-nick-rowley/
Sam
Criminal negligence is a serious offense that can occur within a healthcare organization and/or committed by a medical provider, all of which directly affect patient’s, their families and can result in large penalties and possibly jail time for healthcare organizations/providers. According to Bernstein (2022), when a victim suffers personal injury due to the care provider showing a reckless disregard for human life or the safety of the patient, this is classified as criminal negligence.
In the case of Radona Vaught as reported by Foster (2022), this case focused on the lawsuit that was filed against this nurse and the charges of criminally negligent homicide that followed suit. This case is an example of a criminal case due to the nature of violating a criminal law that resulted in harm to person, property or public trust
This incident initially occurred in 2017, at Vanderbilt hospital where Ms. Vaught medicated Ms. Murphy for anxiety related to having to have an MRI performed. This test takes between 30-45 minutes to perform and is frequently feared by people due to the small space patient’s are required to lie in during the duration of test. Ms. Vaught was helping another nurse by going to the radiology department and medicating Ms. Murphy with Versed which is a mild sedative. Ms. Vaught was unable to find the medication under the orders in the medication dispensing unit therefore she performed an “override” which allowed her to pull any medication from the machine. The medication was administered by Ms. Vaught and the patient subsequently went in for her MRI. Upon completion of the MRI it was noted that Ms. Murphy had gone unresponsive and went into cardiac arrest and was unable to be recusitated. After the incident, Ms. Vaught admitted that she accidentally pulled the medication Vecuronium which is a paralytic, due to the similarities in spelling and administered this medication instead of the Versed to Ms. Murphy (Foster, 2022).
Ms. Vaught immediately reported her mistake to her supervisor and the physician and stated that she was distracted while pulling the medication from the medication unit and while administering the medication and believes this is where the mistake lies. At the conclusion of this fatal error, the nurse was fired from the facility and had her nursing license suspended. The Vanderbilt Hospital settled a civil suit with the family of Ms. Murphy for the damages suffered (Foster, 2022). Although this matter was settled on a civil aspect, the case was reported anonymously to the state along with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid therefore an investigation was initiated, thus resulting in the criminal trial and lawsuit filed.
Radonda Vaught violated some of the ANA Code of Ethics and unintentionally violated the standard of care for nurses on the aspect of do no harm to the patient. Polices and procedures are placed in order to take multiple steps when administering medications in order to avoid medication errors. The standard of practice for this is to use a multi-step system such as the Electronic Medical Record (EMR), the Pyxis machine (medication dispensing unit), along with several steps of verification such as confirming you have the right medication, for the right patient, the right dose and the right administration route, all of which should be performed in an uninterrupted manner.
The penalties that occurred for the defendant in this case were guilty charges of criminally negligent homicide and gross neglect of an impaired adult, Ms. Vaught was sentenced to 3 years of supervised probation. Along with the criminal penalties that were the focus of the case, Ms. Vaught has since lost her nursing license and will never be able to work in the healthcare field again.
Samantha Hartsock
References:
Bernstein, J. E. G. (2022, June 13). Is Medical Malpractice a Civil Case or a Criminal Case? Jack Bernstein, Injury Attorneys. https://bernsteininjurylaw.com/blog/medical-malpractice-civil-case-vs-criminal-case/
Foster, L. (2022, March 29). CRIMINAL CONVICTION FOLLOWING A FATAL MEDICATION ERROR: THE RADONDA VAUGHT CASE. Hancock Daniel. https://hancockdaniel.com/2022/03/criminal-conviction-following-a-fatal-medication-error-the-radonda-vaught-case/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=criminal-conviction-following-a-fatal-medication-error-the-radonda-vaught-case
Vicky
Critical health care error
The addressed error is of a medicinal sodium chloride drug overdose utilized for sinusitis. Sinusitis is the sinuses inflammation.
Factors leading up to the error for the professional plus the HCO.
These include:
Dennis Quaid’s healthcare giver was not a Medicine certified Doctor, nor was he permitted to practice medicine within the California state. However, he was a family physician who prescribed medications for his patients. For headaches, Dr. Quaid prescribed the Sinutab drug to Zoe and Scott, his children. Sinutab is a pain reliever comprising acetaminophen 500mg plus Aspirin 125mg. Acetaminophen is utilized by most over-the-counter dietary plus medicinal products, working through hormone reduction, identified as prostaglandins, causes fever, inflammation, swelling, and pain (Saini et al., 2022, January).
Dr. Quaid 2011, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department arrested for violating the California Health and safety code. This law states that physicians should not prescribe, dispense, or administer any substance that is controlled unless having a prescription by a doctor who is licensed in good standing. After detention against his will, the fixture was jailed and released on his personal recognizance. His probation needed him to finish 200 hours of community service plus pay $20,000 within restitution fees.
Case details regarding the law plus if it got tried within civil or criminal Court
The violated law was the California Health and Safety Code Section 11350. State of California Penal Code Section 17601 plus State of New Mexico Statutes Article 42.2. The Doctor was charged with violating the Controlled Substance Act by prescribing it to anyone he thought benefited from it. He prescribed medications like Sinutab. He violated laws preventing the underage consumption of economical beverages, alongside selling specific drug types. On 14th February, he purchased two wine bottles for his children.
The case got tried within a criminal court versus the civil Court as he was charged with violating the Controlled Substance Act. The Doctor was found Guilty of the Controlled Substance Act.
Legal system violation from the penalty. The penalties that occurred, the penalties that might have occurred though not written within the article.
The legal system violation is the Doctor’s failure to follow his board rules of the state plus related statutes. These penalties constituted failing to track his prescribing practices within New Mexico to the criminal charges against the Doctor. There is also the violation under the state law stating one cannot sign the receipt when they are below the age of 21 years. In addition, Dr. Quaid was ordered to finish weekly alcohol testing alongside being given three-year probation (Slaughter et al., 2019)
References
Saini, A. T., Jiang, Z. Y., Starr, N. C., Talmadge, J., Schmale, I., Radabaugh, P., … & Citardi, M. J. (2022, January). Are nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs effective enough for postoperative pain control after functional endoscopic sinus surgery and septoplasty? A randomized, controlled study. In International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/alr.22941
Slaughter, R. J., Watts, M., Vale, J. A., Grieve, J. R., & Schep, L. J. (2019). The clinical toxicology of sodium hypochlorite. Clinical toxicology, 57(5), 303-311. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15563650.2018.1543889
QUESTION
Thanks for the post. Who were the patients harmed or injured in this case and what were the specific injuries? Did the medical licensing board in New Mexico take any action against Dr. Quaid? Is Dr. Quiad still allowed to practice medicine in any state? Explain.