Indiana Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog

    Indiana patients are injured every day as a result of medical errors by Indiana physicians.  Unfortunately, the vast majority of these errors are committed by a relatively small number of physicians.

     A 2002 study by the consumer group Public Citizen revealed that approximately 5 percent of the nation's doctors were responsible for more than 50 percent of the country's medical malpractice.  The study looked at figures from the National Practitioner Data Bank, which collects and maintains information about malpractice verdicts and settlements from across the United States.  The study found that 4.8 percent of doctors in the United States were responsible for 51.1 percent of all the reports made to the Data Bank. Those doctors paid out nearly $21 billion in damages, more than 53 percent of the total damages paid during the period analyzed by the study.

     The Public Citizen study is consistent with what Garau Germano Hanley & Pennington, P.C. has seen in its practice. Our firm is currently handling multiple cases involving an Indiana doctor who has had more than 30 malpractice claims made against him since 1986.  Unfortunately, the medical profession has never taken any steps to remove this doctor from practice. As long as the medical profession refuses to police its own, lawsuits will be necessary to hold physicians accountable for preventable errors.

    Indiana doctors' errors in the diagnosis of appendicitis can lead to severe injury or death.  Appendicitis is the most common cause of emergency surgery for children.  Unfortunately, appendicitis is also one of the conditions in children most commonly misdiagnosed by doctors.

    The classic signs of acute appendicitis are anorexia, periumbilical pain followed by right lower quadrant pain, fever, and vomiting.  However, all of these signs are present in less than 60% of patients who present with appendicitis. Child patients, in particular, rarely present with the classic signs.  Because patients with appendicitis can present with widely varying signs and symptoms, physicians must be suspicious of appendicitis in any patient who presents with abdominal pain or discomfort. 

   Failure to diagnose and treat appendicitis early can lead to perforation of the appendix, an event which can be especially catastrophic for the child patient.  When perforation occurs, bacteria is released into the abdominal cavity which can cause peritonitis and, eventually, death. 

   The Indianapolis medical malpractice law firm of Garau Germano Hanley & Pennington, P.C., has substantial experience handling cases involving misdiagnosis of appendicitis and other conditions.  If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of medical malpractice, please contact us for a free evaluation of your claim.