Everyday, people in Connecticut and their families put their trust and even their lives in the hands of medical specialists. A hospital serves thousands of people and as a result, doctors have an extraordinary responsibility to ensure their patients’ wellbeing. When doctors or other health care experts cause harm to patients because of negligence, errors, or poor judgment, they are breaking the law.

An example of this occurred to a local Connecticut woman, who was awarded $9.3 million by a Superior Court jury because of a drug overdose that happened in a local hospital. Back in October of 2007, the 72-year-old woman was given an overdose of Lovenox while being treated for a urinary tract infection, according to one of her lawyers. Lovenox is generally used as a blood anticoagulant. Anticoagulants are used to prevent and treat blood clots that may arise in blood vessels.

The woman brought a medical malpractice suit against the hospital. It was alleged that because of the overdose, she needed blood transfusions and other surgical measures to control the bleeding and stop any more damage from happening to her internal organs.

The lawsuit stated that her injuries were brought about by negligence of the hospital. Her lawyer explained that for the rest of her life, she will need a wheelchair and have serious, chronic medical problems.

Any medical malpractice case is a long and complicated legal matter because it’s not always simple or quick to prove that a doctor made a mistake or that the patient was harmed by that mistake. Medical malpractice cases are intricate, expensive, and time consuming. Because the evidence in a medical malpractice case is often hard to understand, an individual needs both legal and medical experts to recognize injuries caused by mistakes, and who are familiar with mistakes that cause certain types of injuries.

Source:  courant.com, “Southport Woman Awarded $9.3 Million In Medical Malpractice Suit” Hilda Munoz, Oct. 25, 2013