Medical Malpractice Lawyer — Medical Negligence

When a patient dies as a result of an improper diagnosis or treatment, the doctor's reputation, license and job are on the line. Sometimes, their worst instincts lead them to cover up their mistakes. Medical records are sometimes altered or disappear. The patient or the patient's family is sometimes blamed. Other doctors or so-called "experts" can be recruited to give bogus opinions that the appropriate "standard medical of care" was met. Key witnesses may become forgetful, or remember events differently than how they actually occurred.

We use our knowledge, resources and skill to take on well funded hospitals, doctors, and their insurance companies, to get at the truth, and to recover fair compensation for the families of medical malpractice victims.

Cases Handled:

Pulmonary Embolism — Failure To Properly Treat or Diagnose
Approximately 650,000 cases of pulmonary embolism occur annually in the United States. In only about one third of these case is the condition correctly diagnosed. An estimated 60,000 deaths result from pulmonary embolism annually. It is one of the leading causes of preventable death in American hospitals.

Pulmonary angiography, ventilation/perfusion scanning (V/Q scan) and other diagnostic advances provide reliable means for diagnosing pulmonary embolism. When a pulmonary embolism is not properly diagnosed by primary care physicians or emergency room doctors, the mortality rate rises dramatically, largely as a result of recurrent emboli. When it is properly diagnosed, treatment with thrombolytic agents can reduce the mortality rate of the condition by about 90%.

J. Whitfield Larrabee has established relationships with leading physicians and experts on deep vein thrombosis (DVT), the underlying cause of pulmonary embolism. He also maintains an extensive database of information and research on the standards of care applicable to this condition.

Failure To Diagnose Cancer
One of the most frequent and preventable areas of medical negligence involves the failure to diagnose cancer, including: breast cancer, cervical cancer, melanomas, lymphomas, lung cancer, bladder cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer and bone cancer.
The failure to detect cancer early before it has spread reduces treatment options and substantially diminishes the patient’s chances of survival.

Improper Treatment and Diagnosis of Heart Attack
Heart attack is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States. Proper diagnosis, treatment and intervention can prevent many heart attacks.

In many cases, physicians fail to conduct essential diagnostic tests to detect a heart attack such as the electrocardiogram (EKG), stress testing, cardiac imaging studies and angiography. In other cases, physicians may be negligent in failing to administer clot dissolving drugs (thrombolytic agents) such as heparin, warfarin, TPA or even aspirin.

Surgical Mistakes, Medical Negligence
A great number of people die each year as a result of surgical errors during operations and even as a result of unnecessary surgery. Medical negligence claims can also be based on the failure to divulge important information to a patient, failure to obtain informed consent, or failure to perform a necessary procedure. More people die each year as a result of medical negligence than die in automobile accidents.