Maryland Accident Law Blog

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting that 56,000 seniors age 65 and older were hospitalized in 2005 because of traumatic brain injuries sustained in fall accidents. Nearly 8,000 people died as a result of these TBIs. The study results were published in this June’s issue of the Journal of Safety Research.

TBIs were a factor in the 50% of accidental fall deaths and 8% of non-fatal fall-related hospitalizations involving seniors. The older people are, the greater their chances of becoming involved in a fall accident. Poor balance, chronic health issues, loss of sensation in the feet, muscular issues, eyesight problems, vision loss, and medication side effect have been known to contribute to an elderly person getting hurt in a fall accident.

According to CDC National Center for Injury Prevention and Control Director Ileana Arias, while most people worry that older people will break a hip when they fall, traumatic brain injuries are also a serious worry. It doesn’t help that traumatic brain injuries among seniors can easily be misdiagnosed or missed.

Falls are the number one case of injury and death for seniors age 65 and older. 1 out of 3 elderly Americans will get hurt in a fall accident every year. 30% of fall accidents require the victim to seek medical care.

In 2005:
• Almost 16,000 seniors died from fall accidents.
• 1.8 million seniors were seen at hospital ER’s.
• 433,000 seniors involved in fall accidents were hospitalized.

Slip and Fall Accidents
Seniors can be especially prone to injury if the owner of a property or business is negligent and neglects to repair or clean up a hazardous condition that could result in a slip/trip and fall accident.

In Maryland and Washington DC, our slip and fall accident lawyers can determine whether the premise owner/manager could have done more to prevent your fall accident from happening.

Senior Falls Can Lead to Brain Injury, WashingtonPost.com, June 24, 2008

Prevent Brain Injury, CDC.gov

Related Web Resources:

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Traumatic Brain Injuries, National Institute of Neurological Disorders

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In California, San Francisco General Hospital has agreed to pay $5.1 million to settle a medical malpractice lawsuit filed by a patient who was seriously injured after hospital staff gave him the wrong medication. San Francisco supervisors approved the settlement amount on Tuesday.

According to court documents, John Weatherspoon III, then 40, sought treatment at the hospital for a cough and a fever in 2005. Hospital staff diagnosed him with renal failure and gave him sedatives. Due to the alleged failure of the staff to monitor the doses he received, he suffered cardiorespiratory failure and sustained an anoxic brain injury.

The lawsuit accused the hospital of breach of medical professional. The city has admitted to mishandling Weatherspoon’s case.

Weatherspoon now requires full-time medical attention. The settlement will pay for his medical care for life. He also recently settled a medical malpractice lawsuit with University of California for $250,000. UCSF doctors are among the personnel that work at San Francisco General Hospital.

Wrong Diagnosis
Unfortunately, the wrong diagnosis of a patient’s condition is not an uncommon occurrence. Misdiagnosing a patient’s symptoms can prove fatal—especially when someone is given the wrong medication because the diagnosis was incorrect. Wrong diagnosis, delayed diagnosis, and failure to diagnosis can be catastrophic.

In Maryland and Washington D.C., our personal injury lawyers handle serious medical malpractice cases and traumatic brain injury cases. Do not hesitate to contact our Maryland law firm for your free consultation with an experienced medical malpractice attorney or one of our traumatic brain injury lawyers.

$5 million OKd to settle S.F. malpractice case, SFGate.com, April 30, 2008

City Hall Watch: Board backs big settlement in lawsuit, Examiner.com, April 30, 2008

Related Web Resources:

San Francisco General Hospital

Brain Anoxia or Hypoxia, Healthlink.mcw.edu

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