South Carolina Medical Malpractice Blog

Nursing home negligence can lead to injuries and deadly falls

On behalf of Fayrell Furr of Furr & Henshaw posted in blog on Tuesday, April 3, 2018.

It's never an easy decision to send a loved one, such as a parent, to a nursing home. You may have done your best to provide in-home care until you simply could not anymore. People with degenerative physical and mental conditions need extra support. Those with medical issues like dementia and Alzheimer's disease may also need more care than a family member can provide. Especially if you have a job and children of your own, the amount of care can quickly exceed what you can offer.

Nursing homes are supposed to be safe, clean and protected spaces for the aging and infirm. You must entrust the daily needs, as well as the emotional and social health, of your loved one to the care providers and administrators who manage the facility. Sadly, even facilities that look clean and have excellent records can neglect or abuse the people entrusted to their care.

Did a doctor’s negligence cause your child’s cerebral palsy?

On behalf of Fayrell Furr of Furr & Henshaw posted in blog on Tuesday, March 20, 2018.

Cerebral palsy is a broad term that refers to a number of different conditions that may affect an infant's brain function and bodily movements. The condition may arise a number of ways, both during pregnancy and during the birth process itself, and even after the child is delivered. In many instances, the condition is not the result of some environmental factor or mistake on the part of the mother, but rather negligence on the part of a doctor overseeing prenatal care or performing delivery.

If you suspect that your child suffers from cerebral palsy because of the negligence of a doctor, you may have legal grounds to pursue a medical malpractice suit. If successful, such a suit provides monetary compensation to cover the ongoing medical costs the condition incurs, as well as address the needless suffering the condition brings to both the child and to you as the parent.

Are you a victim of a surgical accident?

On behalf of Fayrell Furr of Furr & Henshaw posted in blog on Thursday, March 15, 2018.

As a surgery patient, you may have certain expectations about the level of care and precision that the physicians treating you take during your procedure. Most surgeries present risks beyond simply failing to correct the issue at hand. However, patients rarely take into account the potential mistakes of those performing the surgery or the team that facilitates the work.

It can come as a great surprise then, to learn that your surgeon either performed the wrong surgery on you, or operated on the wrong body part. It disheartening to think that the medical professionals charged with your care are capable of such a seemingly foolish error, especially because we place so much trust in our medical care providers to be the professionals that their salaries and training indicate.

Things to look for in a good nursing home

On behalf of Fayrell Furr of Furr & Henshaw posted in blog on Tuesday, February 6, 2018.

When it comes time to consider a facility to care for your aging loved one, it is not always easy to know how to judge your options. Nursing home facilities range in quality and offerings, and the relative quality of the facilities may or may not indicate the level of care and dependability present in a given care facility.

If you do not carefully consider all your options, your loved one may suffer unnecessarily. Nursing home abuse or malpractice can occur anywhere, and any work you can do ahead of time to identify potential problems is certainly worth the effort.

Birth injuries: Questions you need to answer

On behalf of Fayrell Furr of Furr & Henshaw posted in blog on Wednesday, January 24, 2018.

As an expecting parent, there is nothing worse than the thought of a birth injury or birth defect. Instead, the only thing you want is for your baby to be healthy when he or she enters the world.

Unfortunately, birth injuries happen every now and again. And in some cases, this is the direct result of a mistake made by a medical professional.

Lung cancer diagnosis determines the treatment protocol

On behalf of Fayrell Furr of Furr & Henshaw posted in blog on Monday, January 8, 2018.

Receiving a diagnosis of cancer really makes you think about your life. Once your doctors determine that you have this disease, they have to identify what type of cancer you have. The treatment course that you will follow is dependent upon a correct diagnosis.

If you aren't diagnosed properly, there is a chance that you will receive treatments that aren't effective. This could be devastating, especially with serious cancers that are treatable. If you are one of the people who finds out they are diagnosed with lung cancer, you need to find out which type you have. Here are some points to know:

Off-label drug use during labor could result in a tragedy

On behalf of Fayrell Furr of Furr & Henshaw posted in blog on Tuesday, December 5, 2017.

Pregnancy is often a time that is both terrifying and full of joyful expectation. Mothers-to-be often do anything in their power to ensure a healthy pregnancy with the hopes of giving birth to a healthy newborn. Regular doctor visits, exercise, healthy eating and even supplemental vitamins can all play a crucial role in the development of an unborn child. Sadly, all of that hard work can be undone by one medical mistake.

Many doctors who work in the OB/GYN field do so because they enjoy working with expectant mothers or new infants. Sadly, some of them are just there for the paycheck, and that can end up impacting the quality of care provided to expectant mothers and those in labor. Doctors can make decisions based on their own needs, such as speeding up labor when it is progressing properly, if too slowly for their liking.

Elder abuse: The vulnerability of our elders

On behalf of Fayrell Furr of Furr & Henshaw posted in blog on Thursday, November 30, 2017.

Nursing home abuse has no place in current-day society. Individuals know that they're supposed to respect their elders and the people they care for. Despite that, people do still end up struggling in nursing homes. They may be left with injuries as a result of physical or emotional abuse, all of which should never have occurred to begin with.

It's estimated that around 1 in 10 Americans over the age of 60 have experienced elder abuse in some form. Unfortunately, not all cases go to the police, so it's estimated that only 1 in 14 cases actually gets reported.

Is someone else responsible for your mesothelioma?

On behalf of Fayrell Furr of Furr & Henshaw posted in blog on Tuesday, November 7, 2017.

Mesothelioma is a potentially devastating form of cancer no matter when you receive your diagnosis. It is also a cancer primarily brought on by asbestos exposure, so individuals who do develop mesothelioma should always try to identify any environments or events that may have exposed them to asbestos. It is likely that asbestos exposure caused your mesothelioma, and the party who exposed you to asbestos may hold legal liability.

It is also possible that your medical care providers negligently misdiagnosed the cancer, which may, in turn, leave them with the legal liability for it. No matter what the specifics of your mesothelioma cause and diagnosis, it is wise to assess your circumstances and determine if you can pursue a legal claim against any party responsible for your cancer.

3 signs of nursing home negligence or abuse to recognize

On behalf of Fayrell Furr of Furr & Henshaw posted in blog on Thursday, October 5, 2017.

When your loved one is in a nursing home, you don't want to find out that he or she is in danger or has been harmed. It's devastating to know that the people who are supposed to treat your family member like their own loved ones aren't doing so.

There are many signs of nursing home abuse that you can look for. These red flags signify that something is wrong, and they should tell you it's time to transfer your loved one or to have a talk with the home's director.