Subscribe to receive a new closed claim study directly to your inbox once a month. These closed claim studies are provided to help physicians improve patient safety and reduce potential liability risks that may arise when treating patients. They illustrate how actions or inactions by physicians led to allegations of medical liability and how risk management techniques may have either prevented the outcome or increased the physician's defensibility. The ultimate goal in publishing these studies is to help physicians and other health care professionals practice safe medicine.
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Failure to properly treat
A 16-year-old boy came with his mother to an appointment at a dermatology practice. At the request of the mother, a PA wrote a prescription for a compound scar gel containing a steroid.
Failure to follow up on MRI test results
A 40-year-old man came to his family physician with complaints of left shoulder pain for two weeks. The physician ordered an MRI and administered an injection of methylprednisolone and lidocaine.
Complications from hernia repair procedure
On June 25, a 35-year-old man came to an emergency department (ED) reporting right lower abdominal pain following exercise.
Failure to properly manage shoulder dystocia
A 35-year-old woman went to an obstetrics/gynecology practice for confirmation of pregnancy and prenatal care. She had a history of three prior pregnancies, with two ending in miscarriage.
A 72-year-old woman with a history of diabetes went to the emergency department due to pain in her left eye. The ED physician suspected orbital cellulitis, but CBC and CT scans were normal.
Delay in surgery and improper performance
On December 24, a 64-year-old man fell from a ladder and injured his left forearm. He came to the emergency department. An x-ray showed a displaced and complete fracture of radial and ulnar shafts.
Failure to admit, diagnose, and treat
On July 13 at 12:45 a.m., a 48-year-old man was brought to a hospital emergency department (ED) by air ambulance.
Failure to follow up on CT scan
On May 1, 2013, a 69-year-old man came to the ED with worsening shortness of breath. The patient’s history included smoking, COPD, and an occluded right coronary artery.
Improper management of diabetic ketoacidosis
On Dec. 15 at 10:23 a.m., a 12-year-old boy with a history of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus came to an ED with sore throat, cough, abdominal pain, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
Incorrect course of treatment and diagnosis
On June 2, a 61-year-old man came to the emergency department (ED) of a large hospital. He reported recurring, right-sided, lower abdominal pain for two days. He rated the pain as a 9 out of 10.
Delay in recognizing intraoperative complications
A 58-year-old woman came to an orthopedic surgeon reporting unrelenting back pain and radiculopathy into her right leg. The patient described the pain as 10 out of 10.
Failure to diagnose and treat
On January 10, a 35-year-old man was transported by ambulance to a hospital’s emergency department (ED) reporting headache and dizziness. The patient had a history of hypertension and hypothyroidism.
The hospital received an email invoice from the ED group with instructions to send payment to a new account.
Failure to timely intubate patient
A 58-year-old man came to Neurosurgeon A for treatment of neck pain with radiation to his arms. The patient had a history of hypertension and diabetes.
Failure to protect patient’s airway
A 41-year-old man came to the emergency room on August 21 with severe abdominal pain for 5 days, vomiting, nausea, and inability to eat.
Failure to monitor warfarin levels
A 70-year-old woman with a history of diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertension was taken to Hospital A, due to severe aortic stenosis.
Failure to properly manage warfarin dose
An 89-year-old woman suffered a fractured right femur requiring surgical repair. She had a complicated history and comorbidities.
Failure to monitor patient’s INR
In 2007, a 65-year-old man began seeing Family Physician A for treatment of high cholesterol and bronchitis. Over the next two years, the patient was seen for routine care.
Failure to confirm diagnosis of polycythemia vera
In November 2007, a 40-year-old man was referred to an internal medicine physician by his primary care physician. The patient reported feeling weak and tired.
Delay in diagnosing breast cancer
A 77-year-old woman with a history of cigarette smoking and COPD came to her family physician reporting a lump in her right breast.