Recently in Indiana, a federal jury awarded $15 million to a woman (and her husband) who claimed a radiologist and imaging center were negligent in failing to identify a tumor for a full 18 months, resulting in a substantial reduction in her survival chances. Following a four-day verdict, jurors in the case of Webster v. CDI Indiana, LLC, before the U.S. District Court Southern District of Indiana Indianapolis Division, jurors found the diagnostic center was liable for the conduct of the doctor who didn’t find the tumor in a CT scan she underwent in late 2014. The tumor was ultimately discovered in 2016 – more than a-year-and-a-half later.

The initial question in these medical malpractice lawsuits isn’t necessarily whether doctors or other health care providers got it wrong or even how severely you were hurt. The issue is whether those actions met or fell short of the applicable standard of care, given provider’s specialty, education, resources and region. Jurors were asked to consider whether a similarly-situated, prudent provider would have responded the same in similar or identical circumstances. Here, jurors determined the doctor’s actions fell below the applicable standard of care, reducing plaintiff’s chance of survival, her options for treatment and inflicting serious physical pain and emotional suffering.more

Defendant clinic in this case refused to accept liability when the claim was first filed, arguing that as a corporation it didn’t run the center and shouldn’t be considered a medical provider. Rather, defense lawyers argued, this was a company that provided management services to the diagnostic center. However, the corporation’s stance on this point actually put it at a disadvantage because medical providers who opt in to the protections of the Indiana Medical Malpractice Act have their damages for any singular lawsuit capped at $1.25 million. Now, they’ll be paying 12 times that amount.

A spokesman for the company issued a statement indicating it is strongly considering its options for appealing the verdict.

Plaintiff, meanwhile, is currently undergoing intense chemotherapy treatment, but even still, with a form of stage 4 cancer, she has only a 10 percent survival rate from the five-year date of her diagnosis.

So serious are these issues that in another study by The BMJ, medical errors came in third highest as the cause of death in the U.S., accounting for an estimated 250,000 lives lost each year. Many of those cases are never reported, often because surviving family members may not even realize what’s happened. The study authors, surgeons and professors with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, say they concluded that nearly 10 percent of all deaths in this country are the result of some medical mistake, including missed diagnosis. They may also include administering the wrong dose of medicine, negligent care due to a communication breakdown or misdiagnosis.

Even so, “medical error” is not an option listed as a code on death certificates, which makes them difficult to track – and therefore challenging to address. An experienced medical malpractice attorney in Gary, IN can be invaluable.

Indiana Injury Attorney Burton A. Padove handles personal injury claims throughout northern Indiana, including Highland, Gary and Hammond.

Additional Resources:

Medical Errors Are the Third Leading Cause of Death: Study, May 3, 2016, By Mary Oaklander, TIME

More Blog Entries:

Indiana Nursing Home Neglect Alleged in Resident’s Fatal Shower Fall, March 26, 2018, Indiana Medical Malpractice Attorney Blog

In a recent decision, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled the plaintiffs’ claim could not proceed because it was not filed within the two-year window allowed for claims involving medical negligence and personal injury.

According to the joint complaint filed by three patients treated by the defendant dentist in January 2012, one claimant underwent conscious sedation for the removal of a single tooth, only to awaken and learn the dentist had removed 11 teeth. In the other two cases, both patients agreed to the removal of all of their teeth, but only because the dentist told them if they did not, they would be at immediate risk of heart attack, stroke, or death.

In January 2015, the trio filed a joint complaint, alleging claims of negligence, medical malpractice, and violations of RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization).

The defendant dentist filed a motion for summary judgment on all of the claims, arguing they were time-barred because they were not filed within two years. Furthermore, the defendant alleged there was insufficient evidence for a RICO charge.

The trial court granted a summary judgment on the RICO charge, finding that the evidence was insufficient and further that the medical malpractice and negligence claims were filed outside the designated two-year window per Indiana Code § 34-11-2-4(a)(1) and Indiana Code § 34-18-7-1.

The plaintiff then ran into some procedural trouble, since she failed to file a traditional notice of appeal, later admitting to her misinterpretation of the error. The plaintiff further failed to establish a showing of exceptional circumstances that would invoke the court’s equitable powers rule to allow the matter to proceed.

The state appeals court affirmed.

It’s unfortunate that sometimes even legitimate claims can be barred from ever seeing a courtroom, due to the statute of limitations. The idea from the legislative perspective was that defendants should not be placed at a disadvantage by trying to defend themselves from claims that are stale, with evidence that has aged or witnesses whose memories have faded.

But this is why it is so important to pay attention to the statute of limitations, based on the nature of your claim. Most injury claims will need to be filed within two years. In cases in which there is a delayed discovery of a particular injury or its cause in a medical malpractice claim, or when the victim is a minor under six, the time period may be different.

It does seem like the merits of this case would have resulted in a substantial amount of compensation for numerous plaintiffs, had it been allowed to proceed. This particular dentist has been sued by no less than five patients for similar allegations.

WISHTV.com reports “dental overtreatment” comprises 44 percent of all complaints against dentists in Indiana, according to the state attorney general’s office.

The defendant dentist was previously the subject of a licensing complaint that alleged receiving $27,000 in over-billed reimbursements for procedures he performed on some 160 patients.

The U.S. Department of Health’s Office of the Inspector General is reportedly investigating pediatric dentistry practices in Indiana, and it discovered questionable billing practices in 95 cases. One of those named was the defendant in this case.

If you are concerned you may have been overtreated by your dentist, contact our medical malpractice lawyers in Highland.

Indiana Injury Attorney Burton A. Padove handles personal injury claims throughout northern Indiana, including Highland, Gary and Hammond. Additional Resources: Adams v. Gonqueh, Sept. 1, 2017, Indiana Court of Appeals

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