Wrongful Death | Virginia Lawyers Weekly

Plaintiff argues docs should have recommended a mammogram – Defense Verdict

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: October 25, 2012
Tags: Judge John E. Wetsel Jr., Medical Malpractice, Winchester Circuit Court, Wrongful Death

Plaintiff’s decedent was seen by the providers at the defendant family practice over an approximately 22-year span. This care was episodic and occurred only when the decedent was ill or injured. At no time was the patient ever counseled by the healthcare providers, which included three physicians and three physician assistants, to return for a [...]

Diabetic patient with abnormal blood readings was sent home – $1,000,000 Settlement

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: September 17, 2012
Tags: Medical Malpractice, Million-Dollar Settlements, Wrongful Death

The plaintiff’s decedent was a 57-year-old-woman who suffered from diabetes, but otherwise enjoyed good health. In July 2010, she presented to her primary care physician’s office with complaints of three days of nausea and vomiting, diarrhea and an inability to tolerate anything by mouth. Blood work was drawn, which revealed glucose of 437 and CO2 [...]

Women was victim of mall kidnapping, car wreck – $2,600,000 Settlement

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: September 3, 2012
Tags: Million-Dollar Settlements, Premises Liability, Wrongful Death

The 61-year-old decedent was the plaintiff’s wife of 25 years. She was abducted from the parking garage of a regional mall at 1:20 p.m. on Sept. 13, 2008. Her abductors were two teenagers who had shoplifted a replica gun designed to look like a Walther 9mm. The abductors loitered in the parking structure for more [...]

Decedent not warned of his increased risk for pulmonary embolus – $1,700,000 Settlement

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: July 30, 2012
Tags: Medical Malpractice, Million-Dollar Settlements, Wrongful Death

Decedent, age 49 at the time of his death, underwent an arthroscopy with synovectomy operative procedure on his left knee in 2006. Eight days post-op, the defendant orthopedic surgeon diagnosed the decedent with an acute deep venous thrombosis involving the gastrocnemius veins of the left lower extremity. He prescribed Lovenox and Coumadin to prevent the [...]

Fountain collapses, kills girl – $750,000 Settlement

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: July 30, 2012
Tags: Fairfax County Circuit Court, Wrongful Death

An 8-year-old girl was playing with her brother in the front yard of their house, around a pool and fountain that had been recently reassembled by a general contractor. The child attempted to recover a toy that was thrown on the top tier of the three tier fountain. When the child leaned on the lower [...]

Failure to diagnose impending heart attack results in death – $825,000 Settlement

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: July 16, 2012
Tags: Medical Malpractice, Wrongful Death

A 50-year-old morbidly obese male patient with a history of uncontrolled high cholesterol presented to a family doctor complaining of back pain radiating to the chest, episodic shortness of breath and diaphoresis. An EKG was ordered revealing a Q wave in an inferior lead, which the treating physician concluded was an old infarct. Cardiac enzymes [...]

Cancer diagnosed 18 months after mass was first detected – $1,100,000 Settlement

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: July 16, 2012
Tags: Medical Malpractice, Million-Dollar Settlements, Virginia Beach Circuit Court, Wrongful Death

This was a wrongful death action premised on medical malpractice. The plaintiffs alleged that the defendant radiologist misread, as normal, a Dec. 22, 2007, chest film and a July 31, 2008, X-ray of the decedent’ s left arm, both of which showed a mass in the left lung. The mass was suspicious for cancer, and [...]

89-year-old killed in car crash had been healthy, active for her age – $525,000 Settlement

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: July 16, 2012
Tags: Alexandria Circuit Court, Wrongful Death

Decedent, an 89-year-old woman, was proceeding through an intersection on a green light. The defendant, a 90-year-old woman, traveling in the opposite direction, failed to yield and made a left turn immediately in front of decedent’ s car. The two vehicles collided. The defendant pled guilty to failure to pay full time and attention. The [...]

Tractor-trailer passenger killed in fiery interstate crash – $1,650,000 Settlement

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: July 2, 2012
Tags: Million-Dollar Settlements, Wrongful Death

Decedent was a passenger of a tractor-trailer driven by a fellow employee on Interstate 20 in Lincoln Parish, La., traveling in the left lane at approximately 70 mph. The vehicle was approximately 10-20 yards behind another tractor-trailer, at which time the lead tractor-trailer slowed down. Decedent’s tractor-trailer moved into the right hand lane, striking the [...]

Claim: Delayed diagnosis of lung cancer led to 27-year-old’s death – $1,250,000 Settlement

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: July 2, 2012
Tags: Medical Malpractice, Million-Dollar Settlements, Wrongful Death

An ER physician missed a mass in the left lung on a chest X-ray performed on Sept. 14, 2006. The reviewing radiologist saw the mass but failed to call the ER physician, or speak with her face to face, regarding his discrepant findings. Instead, the radiologist used routine methods to report the discrepancy through the [...]

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