In unfortuante recent news, a Michigan medical malpractice lawsuit is being filed against Oakwood Hospital on behalf a 48 year old woman from Flat Rock, Michigan died shortly after having brain surgery. Her family alleges that the doctors at Oakwood hospital performed brain surgery on the wrong side of her head.

The woman arrived at the hospital on August 7, 2007 with a severe headache. Dr. Hasnain Haider-Shah found a leak inside her head and diagnosed her with an acute leak from an artery in her brain. The woman was rushed into emergency and surgery was performed immediately.

The suit claims that Dr. Hasnain Haider-Shah should have performed surgery on the left side of the brain but mistakenly performed surgery on her right side first, causing the woman to suffer severe brain damage.

Oakwood Hospital released a statement expressing their condolences and discussing their “Life Wings” program that requires every staff member to be properly trained so something like this never happens again. The suit has yet to be settled.

I am very sorry to hear about this medical malpractice and condolences go out to the family.

Our Michigan brain injury lawyers handle cases on behalf of babies and infants who suffered brain damage as a result of jaundice after birth.  Most newborns with  jaundice recover without further injury or damage.  In other cases, the condition progresses to kernicterus which can cause permanent damage to the brain.

The root cause of kernicterus is excessive jaundice, a condition in which the levels of a substance called bilirubin build up faster in the baby’s blood than can be broken down by the liver.  When the levels spike too high, the toxic byproduct can move out of the blood and into the brain tissue.  This can result in severe brain damage to the baby.

Doctors can use a bilurubin test to detect high levels of bilirubin eary on and start treatments right away to prevent the levels from increasing.  This often can involve a simple light treatment, phototherapy.  In more severe cases, a blood transfusion can be given to get rid of the bilirubin before it damages the brain.

When doctors and hospitals fail to take appropriate measures to test the bilirubin and implement proper treatment and the baby suffers brain injury, this can give rise to a medical malpractice lawsuit.  Because the injuries are often severe, the baby will need a lifetime of specialized care, treatement, supervision, and education.  The parents of the child will need assistance to obtain these services for the child and the child is entitled to compensation for the injuries resulting from the negligent medical care.

For more information on jaundice and kernicterus lawsuits, call our Michigan medical malpractice and brain injury lawyers at (800) 606-1717.