Medical Malpractice Lawyers

The Case of a Cleveland Malpractice Attorney Client Goes Before Ohio Supreme Court

As any seasoned malpractice attorney in Cleveland knows, you must be prepared to go the distance if you want to win. A recent malpractice case between the Cleveland Clinic and a retired Air Force colonel found itself in the highest court in the state – the Ohio Supreme Court. In fact, the court is being asked to decide whether the patient has any right to bring his case before the law as well, due to a state four year window for medical malpractice.

The case involves David Antoon and his wife, who accuse the Cleveland Clinic of botching a surgery to remove a cancerous prostrate gland, which the Clinic denies. The surgery occurred in 2008, yet the case was only filed this year, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

But Antoon argues that the suit was only delayed because the Clinic refused to grant access to key records in the case. The couple dropped their first suit in 2011.

“There is so much obstruction in the process,” said Antoon told the Plain Dealer. “If the merits of the case are not heard, it is a great injustice. It’s not just an injustice for me as an individual, it’s an injustice for the entire process.”

Antoon will have his day in court, indeed in the highest court in the land. If you have been the victim of malpractice and seek justice, contact a Linton Law Firm malpractice attorney in Cleveland today for a free consultation. You deserve to be heard. You case should be expertly represented.

Your Best Malpractice Law Firm Advice: Don’t Take Your Doctor’s Word for It

Wondering if you’ve been the victim of medical malpractice? Don’t just take your doctor’s word for it. It’s always best to review your case with a malpractice law firm in Cleveland such as the Linton Law Firm. A recent exclusive 5 on Your Side Investigation uncovered numerous instances of doctors and hospitals covering up or omitting critical medical errors.

Though medical practitioners are legally required to track medical mistakes, that information is often hidden from both patients and the public, the report found.

“People who are injured as a result of medical malpractice are almost never told that has happened by their doctors or by hospitals where it’s happened,” Maxwell Mehlman, the Director of the Law-Medicine Center at Case Western Reserve University, told the news agency.

One case in point is Parma resident Lyn Adanich, who claims errors made by the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center during her husband’s routine dental implant surgery were never disclosed. Surgical gauze was left in 69-year-old Donald Adanich’s stomach for three weeks. Doctors discovered the gauze later, but failed to tell the couple. They only found out after getting a second opinion from another doctor after the left over gauze resulted in a massive stomach infection. He never recovered, and died in August 2014, six months after the dental surgery.

You can bet Ms. Adanich is now consulting her malpractice law firm in Cleveland. The question remains: What isn’t your doctor telling you?

A Case That a Cancer Misdiagnosis Attorney in Cleveland Rarely Encounters: Intentional Misdiagnosis

As any cancer diagnosis attorney in Cleveland will tell you, misdiagnosing cancer is not always a case of negligence. In some cases, it is a punishable crime that deserves jail time, not to mention financial restitution to the victims involved. A doctor in Michigan recently received a 45 year prison sentence for intentionally misdiagnosing cancer in hundreds of healthy patients purely to bill them for his services and line his own pockets.

Prosecutors originally sought a 175 year prison sentence for Dr. Farid Fata, according to the Wall St. Journal. Fata pleaded guilty to Medicare fraud last year. Authorities suspect more than 500 people suffered through the intentional misdiagnoses. More than 150 alleged victims filed impact statements in court.

“I’m here because I don’t want this to happen to anyone else,” Marietta Crabtree testified in court. Her husband, Donald Crabtree, died of kidney cancer at the age of 79 after receiving what his family claims was improper chemotherapy treatment to treat a case of lung cancer that actually did not exist. “We trusted him and we never thought that we couldn’t.”

The cancer misdiagnosis was blatant and intentional.

“Fata single handedly designed the fraud, which necessitated fooling his own employees and professional staff,” federal prosecutors contended in a court memorandum.

Most cases a cancer misdiagnosis attorney in Cleveland comes across are the result of negligence. Rarely are they an intentional act. Nonetheless, any case of misdiagnosis can be deadly, either in delaying treatment or resulting in patients receiving chemotherapy for cancer they do not actually have, ironically resulting in giving them a deadly cancer.

Coma Misdiagnosis and Consulting a Brain Injury Attorney Cleveland

If your loved one has been the victim of a brain injury and lies in a coma, the good news is they might not be as unresponsive as they appear. Rom Houben was paralyzed in 1983. Doctors incorrectly diagnosed that he was in a deep coma and assumed he was unconscious the whole time. Only a reevaluation of his case in 2009 revealed that he was actually fully awake and aware of what was going on around him. He spent over 23 years trapped in a state of isolation because the world assumed he was entirely unconscious. Ask any brain injury attorney Cleveland. His case is far from uncommon. As new technologies make it possible for people in near coma like states to communicate, the medical world is realizing that many people diagnosed with comas area actually quite conscious and capable of leading engaging lives in the future.

Mr. Houben describes the day he was able to communicate successfully again with doctors as “his second birth.” His example is just more proof that we should never give up on people afflicted with brain injuries who have slipped into comas. A study in 2009 by top neurological expert Dr Steven Laureys reveals that coma misdiagnosis can be surprisingly common. If your friend or family member lives in a comatose state, it is crucial you have them evaluated properly. In today’s healthcare system, that can be difficult to do, as insurance companies often don’t want to pay for it. It is critical that you work with a brain injury attorney Cleveland to ensure a proper diagnosis for the sake of your loved one and their long term care.

Birth Injury Lawyer Cleveland: The Psychological Effects of a Traumatic Birth

As a child’s first experience, birth, has an inevitable emotional impact. When something goes wrong, say a prolonged birth or the baby becoming choked on the umbilical cord, for example, birth can easily become traumatic, and this can have a lasting psychological impact on the baby. When consulting a birth injury lawyer, Cleveland, remember to consider the psychological health of the baby as well in the overall assessment.

Studies show that children who have undergone traumatic births are more prone to aggression, anxiety and depression than those who experienced an easy birth. At birth, the child’s mind is purely unconscious. The natural process of being misplaced from a warm and comforting womb is naturally stressful, but in a life threatening condition, that unconscious mind must first experience trauma, which can vastly shape the way the brain responds to stress. Added to this burden is the mother’s own stress, to which the baby is psychologically and emotionally linked, creates an enormous stress response that may affect the baby for the rest of their life. A good birth injury lawyer in Cleveland will certainly consider any mental trauma when making an assessment.

Yet there is hope for children who grow up with anxiety resulting from a traumatic birth. Modern psychological therapies such as EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), and AIT (Advanced Integrative Therapy) can help rewire and heal children’s brains, but they are naturally expensive. Talk to a birth injury lawyer Cleveland to consider all of your options. As you would expect, your child will need extensive resources. A birth injury lawyer Cleveland can best prepare a case that secures your child’s future.

Nursing Home Injury Attorney in Cleveland Advises: Don’t Agree to Arbitrate Your Way Out of Court

Ask any nursing home injury attorney in Cleveland. Too many families sign away their right to legal protection in court, often on the first page of the nursing home contract. Often tucked into stacks of admission papers is an innocent legal agreement asking you to agree to arbitrate disputes, if any arise, rather than going to court. It’s an easy way to lose the ability to protect or advocate for your loved one, and it’s accomplished with one simple signature, usually stacked behind other legitimate contract agreements so you don’t even realize what you’re doing. Too often families learn the hard way once a nursing home injury attorney in Cleveland explains that his or her hands are tied because of this very agreement.

Ideally, it’s best to first go over a contract with a nursing home injury attorney in Cleveland before signing your name to the dotted line. He or she can go over the various provisions and explain exactly what they mean. They can also be on the look out for wording that doesn’t seem to mean anything on paper but can cost you the world in court. Even if you do not first consult with a nursing home injury attorney in Cleveland, always be on the lookout for any language involving arbitration and giving up your right to a courtroom. You’ll thank yourself later for the sake of your loved one.

If you did end up signing any agreement do arbitrate over going to court. You have 30 days to rescind the agreement.Talk to a nursing home injury attorney in Cleveland to discuss your rights and how to get the best legal protection for your loved one.

Cleveland Birth Injury Attorney: Signs to Watch For

Identifying a birth injury is no easy task, and should ultimately be left to a professional. The question, however, is when do you call a Cleveland birth injury attorney? What may seem like a birth complication could be the direct result of negligence or error. Your child’s future care may depend on one simple call.

Initial Signs

Though some indications of birth injury don’t present themselves until well into a child’s development, there are immediate signs which need to be recognized. These include abrasions, bruising or swelling on the baby’s head, face or shoulders. Seizures that develop within 48 hours can be another sign. Is your child breathing normally at the time of delivery, or does he or she require CPR? Failure to breathe properly could be another sign. Does your child’s limbs have a floppy or limp appearance that seems to lack muscle tone?

Milestones

Other signs of birth injury can only be spotted as the child grows. Are they meeting their proper milestones? Within a month, babies should begin to focus on anything 8 to 12 inches away. Within three months, they should be able to follow moving objects. If a child is slow to suck and feed at one month, that may be a sign of developmental difficulty. Other questionable signs at three months include not being able to support one’s head, respond to loud sounds, or grasp and hold onto objects.

If by month seven, your child cannot sit up properly, seems floppy like a rag doll, and can’t sit without help, you may want to consult a Cleveland birth injury attorney.

Ultimately, it’s up to the professional expertise of a Cleveland birth injury attorney to decide. At Linton & Hirshman LLC, we offer a free consultation to discuss your situation. One simple call to a Linton & Hirshman LLC nursing home injury attorney can proactively protect your child for the rest of their lives.

Experience is in the Details: Choosing the Right Cleveland Law Firm

When it comes to medical malpractice, it is often difficult for you to receive answers to your questions.  You want to know what happened.  You want to know the truth.  You may be a victim wronged by a hospital, doctor or nursing home, but proving your case is another matter. Due to the complicated nature of medical malpractice lawsuits, the success of pursuing a medical malpractice case often depends more on the Cleveland malpractice lawyer that you choose than the facts of the case themselves.

Linton & Hirshman is a Cleveland malpractice law firm that has a solid reputation in successfully litigating complex claims. We use our considerable resources to aggressively pursue a case to its complete potential. Our leading partners Ellen Hobbs Hirshman, Tobias J. Hirshman and Robert F. Linton, Jr. have worked in some of the most respected firms in the profession. Our experience speaks for itself. View our case summaries to see the impressive settlements we’ve won on behalf of our clients.

At Linton & Hirshman, we practice law respectfully, yet aggressively, with the interest of our clients in mind. We know how to use the circumstances of a courtroom to best favor your case. As your Cleveland malpractice lawyer, we represent your side to the fullest of its potential to win the settlement you deserve. Most of our cases are taken on contingency, so we only get paid when you win. That means your interests are our top priority as your choice Cleveland malpractice law firm.