Question

what are the relevant malpractice policies in place for addressing the issues within the iturralde v. hilo medical case

Answer 1

Iturralde admitted to the hospital in Hilo due to leg weakness resulted in him with many falls. He diagnosed with degenerative spondylolisthesis L4-5 with stenosis. It needs spinal fusion surgery and needs implanting two rods into the spine for bilateral fixation. Dr.Ricketson is an orthopedic surgeon who ordered an M8 titanium CD horizon kit from Medtronic it includes two titanium implant rods. Stocks, not available further it sent the order to two shipments. The hospital received the stocks, sterilized and sent to the operation room. but the nurse informed the surgeon that the inventory of the kit had not been completed, even though the doctor proceeds with the surgery. During surgery after 2 hours of operation staff told to doctor they could not find the rods. Again the rodes offered personally from some other facility in Honolulu in reached the hospital. Delaying the surgery can cause harm to the patient, due to the absence of titanium rods surgeron cut the three to four-centimeter stainless steel screwdriver included in the kit. he implanted the shaft into the spine. The screwdriver shaft not intended for human implantation. This was not informed to the patient and family. After two days patient sick and had several falls and again surgery was done with replacing titanium rods. The nurse was aware of all that and informed to supervisor. nurse-delivered that broken screwdriver to the attorney's office and informed this news to the patient caregiver. patient condition was worsened with sepsis and the patient died with urosepsis.
Asserted claims on Dr. Ricketson based on lapses in judgment, violating state and federal drug laws, abusing false prescription and false medical record, fail to report claims of negligence, negligence creditability, breach of warranty, liability against non-party Hawaii orthopedics.
The jury found malpractice on doctor and hospital were negligence can cause patient harm. patient lost nearly $2, 000,000 and suffered from physical and mental illness. There was a total judgment against Doctor $5, 517, 500 including severe liability cost.
Malpractice policy in place include
-Product liability and substantial change
-Superseding and foreseeability cause
-Rosalinda's NIED claim(NIED claim involve psychological injury due to negligence)