Keating, O’Gara attorney Jefferson Downing, who along with Jim Bartimus and Mike Rader of the Bartimus, Frickleton firm in Kansas City, represented the Manes said, “This is a very, very good settlement. Both sides worked hard to achieve it.”

The settlement was approved by the State Claims Board today based upon the Department of Health and Human Service agency’s recommendation: “The Department believes that there was negligence in this case, and requests that the claim be approved in this amount.”

David and Tina Manes remain committed to seeing something positive come from their daughter’s death. “The Manes will continue to work for constructive change at BSDC. They are committed to seeing something positive result from their personal tragedy,” said Downing.

Since it is a matter of public record, the settlement agreement can be viewed here.

From the Lincoln Journal Star:

Parents sue state to get answers in daughter’s death
By DEENA WINTER
Lincoln Journal Star
Friday, Feb 13, 2009

At first, she was known only as Client 1.

An 18-year-old Beatrice State Developmental Center client had died.

Three hours after going into a seizure, she was dead.

She hadn’t had a seizure since 1999, when she began taking Klonopin to control them.

Her parents didn’t know it, but three days earlier, Beatrice staff had stopped giving her the medication, triggering what their attorney calls “a cascading series of medical errors.”

At about 3 a.m. on Jan. 16, her parents were awakened by the Pawnee County sheriff.

Client 1, as she was referred to in a state investigation, was dead.

But she had a name: Olivia Manes.

On Thursday, Tina and David Manes filed a $1.75 million claim against the state for wrongful death and the “pre-death terror, pain and suffering” of their daughter Olivia. They alleged at least 10 errors in her care.

A spokeswoman for the state declined to comment on the filing.

Tina and David learned Olivia had Dandy-Walker Syndrome when she was 2 months old. She was blind and mentally retarded. She never walked. She had 15 to 20 seizures per day.

They kept her home until she was 6 and it became clear they could no longer care for her. She had difficulty swallowing. Feeding her took a couple of hours. She wasn’t getting enough fluids.

Immediately, they knew where they wanted her to live.

David’s older brother, Mark, had Down Syndrome and lived at the Beatrice center.

“I grew up out there,” said David, a Beatrice native.

Tina said she felt guilty because she had “selfishly” kept Olivia at home longer than perhaps she should have. When she went to Beatrice, she was so small and possibly malnourished they could carry her like a toddler.

In Beatrice, she learned to eat, drink and swallow properly. She came to love eating.

She thrived, particularly after she began taking one tablet of seizure medicine daily. It was her lifeline.

She loved music especially Shania Twain and Christmas songs. She loved feeling the breeze on her face when someone pushed her wheelchair outside.

The Maneses and their son and another daughter live 39 miles away from Beatrice, in Steinauer. They visited Olivia at least weekly.

When she heard their voices, her mother said, she would light up and reach her hands out for a bear hug that could give you whiplash.

She loved to nestle her cheek next to yours, Tina said, crying at the memory.

They felt like she was meant to spread joy at Beatrice.

When they got the call telling them she’d died, they couldn’t understand how their girl, who hadn’t had a seizure since 1999, could be gone.

Two weeks after burying their daughter, the Maneses learned some of the heartbreaking details of Olivia’s death while watching the evening news.

“Nobody bothered to let us know,” Tina said of a report released to the media.

Nobody had told them staffers had stopped giving Olivia her seizure medicine. And although normally they’d get a call even when she had the sniffles or scraped her hand, nobody called when she began having seizures at 11:30 p.m. Jan. 15.

They weren’t told an ambulance picked her up two hours after the episode began. Once in the hospital, she was found to have pneumonia and a fever of 106 degrees.

Nobody had told the Maneses that no one checked Olivia’s vital signs while she was thrashing and seizing at the developmental center.

Tina breaks down when she thinks of her daughter suffering for hours “fighting for her life.”

Nobody called them to be with her daughter.

Nobody told them any of those things.

“We have never once gotten a call from BSDC,” Tina said. “Olivia was happy and healthy and besides having her syndrome, hasn’t had a seizure for 10 years.”

Last weekend, they got a phone call from Gov. David Heineman. He apologized that they had to learn the details of their daughter’s death on the news.

David said he talked to Heineman for about 90 minutes, explaining how he doesn’t blame the staff. He blames administrators for not properly training staff or being qualified to run the center.

He doesn’t think Heineman realized how severely disabled some of the people in Beatrice are.

“It seemed to me that he was out of touch,” David said.

He told the governor he thinks Beatrice should stay open and that group homes cannot provide the kind of services people like Olivia need.

The Maneses didn’t know until after Olivia died that the center had cut nursing staff on the night shift. They didn’t know, until they read a state investigation into her death, that not all staff was trained to handle seizures, even though 17 of the 18 people in Olivia’s unit had a history of them.

Despite all the negative publicity surrounding the Beatrice center “especially in recent years” the Maneses say they never saw the kind of abuse and neglect alleged by advocacy groups and inspectors.

The center is on the verge of losing $29 million annually in federal Medicaid funds due to abuse and neglect and failure to meet federal standards.

The Maneses used to pop in unannounced to make sure Olivia was being properly cared for and never saw problems.

“They were like family to us,” Tina said. “They’ve lost their little girl just like we have.”

And although they were often asked if they’d like to transfer Olivia to a group home or other community program, they always declined. They didn’t feel she would get the therapy and services she needed.

They believe the state made another mistake by removing 45 “medically fragile” Beatrice residents in the wake of Olivia’s death. Now those residents aren’t getting the kind of non-medical services they need, the Maneses say.

David’s brother still lives at the Beatrice center where he’s lived for 42 years. And that’s exactly where they want him to stay.

From the Lincoln Journal Star:

Sides settle in abortion lawsuit
BY CLARENCE MABIN / Lincoln Journal Star
Tuesday, May 27, 2008 – 06:39:34 pm CDT

Planned Parenthood of Nebraska & Council Bluffs and a Nebraska woman have reached a confidential settlement in a medical malpractice lawsuit against the organization.

Attorneys for Planned Parenthood and the woman, identified in the lawsuit as Jane Roe, filed papers in Lancaster County District Court last week seeking dismissal of the claim with prejudice. Dismissing a case with prejudice means the plaintiff cannot raise the claim again.

James Snowden, attorney for Planned Parenthood, said the settlement was a compromise and involved no admission of liability or fault.

The woman’s attorney, Jefferson Downing of Lincoln, declined to elaborate.

“All I can say is, the case has been resolved,” he said. “I really can’t make any comment beyond that.”

In the lawsuit, the woman said she had an emergency hysterectomy because of an abortion at the Lincoln Planned Parenthood clinic on Aug. 16. According to the suit, she lost four liters of blood and experienced intense pain.

She sued Planned Parenthood and Dr. Meryl Severson in Lancaster County District Court last year. Earlier this year, attorneys in the case agreed to dismiss Severson as a defendant.

The woman was seeking $38,850 for past medical expenses and unspecified damages for physical pain and mental suffering, permanent injury and lost income.

Lincoln Right to Life spokeswoman Sandra Danek said the settlement will spare Planned Parenthood and Severson from public scrutiny of what she contends are unsafe medical practices at the clinic.

“I will say, Lincoln Right to Life would be concerned that Planned Parenthood of Lincoln and Mr. Severson are not being held to public scrutiny in this case,” Danek said Tuesday. “There are women going in there believing it’s safe.

“My question is, is it safe?”

Chris Funk, Planned Parenthood president and chief executive officer, said it is.

“For over 60 years, Planned Parenthood has provided high- quality contraceptive and reproductive health care to tens of thousands of men, women and teens in Nebraska and Council Bluffs,” Funk said.

“Contrary to what Lincoln Right to Life would like people to believe, the health and safety of our patients is always a top priority.”

Planned Parenthood suspended abortions several weeks ago, but is expected to resume offering the procedure in the coming weeks, Funk said.

Danek questioned the timing of the suspension, but Funk said it was unrelated to the malpractice claim.

“It had nothing to do with the lawsuit,” she said.

The suit was filed against Planned Parenthood of Nebraska and Council Bluffs and Dr. Meryl Severson and alleges that on August 17th, a 40 year old woman went to the Planned Parenthood South Street Center in Lincoln, Nebraska for an abortion.

The Lincoln Journal Star story from Saturday, September 1^st:

Woman alleges medical malpractice after abortion
By CLARENCE MABIN / Lincoln Journal Star
Saturday, Sep 01, 2007 – 12:11:39 am CDT

A 40-year-old Nebraska woman said in a lawsuit filed Friday that she had an emergency hysterectomy because of a botched abortion at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Lincoln last month.

The woman, who is not named in the lawsuit, said she lost four liters of blood — the equivalent of 80 percent of the average woman’s blood volume, according to the lawsuit — and that the procedure caused her excruciating pain.

Lincoln attorney Jefferson Downing, who filed the lawsuit in Lancaster County District Court, as well as a complaint with the Nebraska Health and Human Services Department on behalf of the woman, said his client felt violated by the treatment she received at the clinic.

“Our client has filed these complaints to bring to light the negligent actions of Planned Parenthood and Dr. (Meryl) Severson,” Downing said in a prepared statement.

He said the woman is identified as Jane Roe in the lawsuit to protect her privacy. He declined to provide any information about her outside of statements in the complaint.

Downing has taken an active role in pro-life causes. In 2001, he was among a group of attorneys representing members of a pro-life group that staged pickets outside Westminster Presbyterian Church in Lincoln because Dr. Winston Crabb, a church elder, performed abortions in Lincoln and Omaha.

The picketers, members of Omaha-based Rescue the Heartland, raised a First Amendment challenge in U.S. District Court to a city ordinance on picketing.

On Friday, Downing downplayed the relevance of his personal views on abortion in regard to the Planned Parenthood lawsuit. He said the woman contacted his law firm through the Lincoln Yellow Pages.

The lawsuit names as defendants Planned Parenthood of Nebraska and Council Bluffs and Dr. Meryl Severson of Omaha.

Chris Funk, president and chief operating officer for Planned Parenthood, said Friday she was unaware of the lawsuit and declined comment.

Severson could not be reached.

He resigned from the University of Nebraska Medical Center in March 2001 after performing an elective abortion in 2000 in violation of university policy. He joined Planned Parenthood in May 2001.

The plaintiff is claiming negligence and battery in the lawsuit, and is seeking $36,850 for past medical expenses and unspecified damages for physical pain and mental suffering, permanent injury and lost income.

Neither defendant is covered by protections under the Nebraska Hospital-Medical Liability Act, which sets limits on damage amounts, the lawsuit said.

According to the lawsuit, the woman was about eight weeks pregnant when she contacted Planned Parenthood in July and scheduled an abortion at the South Street Center.

The woman and a friend arrived at the clinic at 9 a.m. Aug. 17, and, according to the suit, the woman had an ultrasound, which indicated a tilted uterus.

After a wait of several hours, the woman was taken to an examination room and given an injection in her cervix, the lawsuit said. She then heard a suction sound, felt pressure in the uterus and “immediately complained of excruciating pain.”

When she told Severson and the attendants to stop, the suit said, the doctor replied, “We can’t stop.” Three employees then held the woman down while Severson completed the suction, according to the lawsuit.

Afterward, the woman felt sharp pain, nausea and was bleeding, the lawsuit said. While in the recovery area, her friend tried to help her to a bathroom, but she passed out, fell to the floor and suffered the first of three seizures, the lawsuit said.

Lincoln Fire and Rescue was dispatched to the clinic, and took her to BryanLGH Medical Center East.

A signed operative report from a physician at the hospital said the woman had experienced a “catastrophic perforation” of the uterus during the abortion. Downing provided a copy of the report in which the doctor’s name was blacked out.

Because of the “extensive nature of the trauma,” the report said, the physician summoned a second doctor and they performed an emergency hysterectomy on the woman. The doctors took photographs of the uterus to show the damage, according to the lawsuit.

“Had she not received emergency care when she did, it is my professional opinion that the patient could have hemorrhaged to death,” the doctor said in a signed summary provided by Downing.

The district court complaint is viewable here: complaint.pdf

If you have been injured due to medical malpractice, call Keating, O’Gara, Nedved, & Peter at 888/234-0621 or fill out the “Contact Us” form in the upper left-hand portion of this page. Your first consultation is free.

Every year in the United States, 7 million people go to hospital emergency rooms complaining of chest pain or other symptoms that suggest they might be having a heart attack. A missed heart attack diagnosis garners the highest malpractice payout among all medical malpractice cases.

* * *

The statistics surrounding heart disease and heart attacks in the U.S. are startling. A heart attack occurs about every 20 seconds, and deaths from heart attacks occur approximately once a minute. Almost 14 million Americans have a history of heart attack or angina (chest pain or discomfort that occurs when your heart muscle does not get enough blood).

Shortness of breath, often occurring at the same time as chest pain but can occur before chest pain, also Chest discomfort/pain (squeezing, pressure, or fullness) Discomfort in other areas of the upper body (one or both arms, back, neck, jaw or stomach) Cold sweat, nausea, and light-headedness.

More than 233,000 women die each year from heart disease; yet, most women do not experience chest pain when having a heart attack. Instead, they frequently experience nausea and vomiting, which often leads doctors to misdiagnose a woman’s heart attack as a gastro-intestinal problem. According to recent studies, women waited an average of almost 25 minutes longer than men for clot-buster treatments, which can stop a heart attack. Misdiagnosing a heart attack or a heart condition puts the patient, female or male, at risk for stroke, paralysis and death.

If you or a loved one have been injured due to a medical error, call the experienced medical malpractice attorneys of Keating, O’Gara, Nedved, & Peter at 888/234-0621 or fill out the “Contact Us” form in the upper left-hand portion of this page.

The widespread use of electronic systems to send prescriptions from doctors to pharmacies promises to prevent thousands of life-threatening medical errors, save billions of dollars in health care costs and even drive more business to drug stores.

Still, the vast majority of U.S. physicians have yet to adopt electronic prescribing, or e-prescribing, for the estimated 4 billion prescriptions they write annually, a situation that a phalanx of corporations and the government are working to change. One coalition promoting e-prescribing estimates that as many as 20 percent of the 550,000 practicing U.S. physicians had the technology to send e-prescriptions, but that only 5 percent actually have been using it.

With e-prescribing, physicians can use hand-held or desktop computers or “smart” mobile phones to send patient drug prescriptions to pharmacy computers.

Beyond conveying prescriptions, systems can alert doctors to potential drug interactions or dosing problems, eliminate handwriting errors, automate the time-consuming renewal process, provide data on a patient’s drug plan, and potentially cut thousands of pharmacy calls to doctors. Hospitals, insurers, technology companies, regional collaboratives and pharmacies have been working to advance adoption of e-prescribing.

If you or a loved one have been injured due to a medical error, please call Keating, O’Gara, Nedved & Peter at 888/234-0621 or fill out the contact form on this site. Your first consultation is free and we handle cases on a contingency fee basis.

Gawande is a general surgeon at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. And he still makes mistakes. It’s this uncomfortable wound that he has opened up, first in Complications – his bestselling book that was shortlisted for the National Book prize in the US and became the inspiration for the TV series Grey’s Anatomy – and now in his follow-up, Better.

“What I’m interested in is failure,” he says, “as it’s the one area of medicine with which the professionals are often reluctant to engage because the stakes we are playing for are so high. We can fail by putting a decimal point in the wrong place and by not asking the right questions. If you ask any doctor when he or she last made a misdiagnosis, the truthful answer would always be in the last month. We get things wrong and we try to put them right. And, of course, we can fail with a slip of the hand. I once performed an emergency trachaeotomy in which I did everything wrong. I had the wrong knife, the wrong lights and I made the wrong incision. There was blood everywhere and the patient would have died if a colleague hadn’t stepped in to help. It was horrific.

If you or a loved one have been injured due to a medical mistake, please call Keating, O’Gara, Nedved & Peter at 888/234-0621 or fill out the contact form on this site. Your first consultation is free and we handle cases on a contingency fee basis.

“In total,” the Post reports, “85 percent of these drug errors were not spotted until the child received the medication, according to a study led by Dr. Marlene Miller, associate professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore. These errors do not always cause harm to the child, the authors added, but they are always worrisome.”

As expected, human error accounts for the vast majority of these types of medical mistakes:

Surprisingly, prescribing errors accounted for just one in 10 cases. Most errors (48 percent) involved mistakes in administration, followed by errors in dispensing (30 percent). The most commonly cited types of error were mistakes in dose or quantity (23 percent), or time of administration (23 percent), followed by omission errors (that is, failing to deliver the drug at all, 14 percent) and improper administration technique or route (12 percent). By far the biggest cause of error was “performance deficit” — human error — at 41 percent.

If you or a loved one have been injured due to a medical error, please call Keating, O’Gara, Nedved & Peter at 888/234-0621 or fill out the contact form on this site. Your first consultation is free and we handle cases on a contingency fee basis.

The study found that, “The majority of medical malpractice claims . . .were closed without any compensation paid to those claiming a medical injury.”

The Bureau conducted a study of medical malpractice insurance claims that were closed from 2000 through 2004 in Florida, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada and Texas. These states were identified as having comprehensive medical malpractice insurance claims databases, some of which extended back to the early 1990s.

An examination of closed medical malpractice insurance claims allows for a broad overview of some of the key issues associated with medical malpractice. About one-third of the medical malpractice insurance claims closed in Maine, Missouri and Nevada resulted in a payout. In Illinois only about 12 percent of closed claims ended in a payout.

So much for the much hyped medical malpractice “crisis.” The facts speak for themselves.

If you or a loved one have been injured due to medical malpractice, please call Keating, O’Gara, Nedved & Peter at 888/234-0621 or fill out the contact form on this site. Your first consultation is free and we handle cases on a contingency fee basis.

That is because California, like Nebraska, has a cap on medical malpractice damages. Nebraska Revised Statute Section 44-2825 limits a plaintiff’s right to medical malpractice damages to a statutory total of $1.75 million. The cap has been challenged several times but, to date, the Nebraska Supreme Court has ruled that the cap is constitutional.

If you or a loved one have been injured due to medical malpractice, please call Keating, O’Gara, Nedved & Peter at 888/234-0621 or fill out the contact form on this site. Your first consultation is free and we handle cases on a contingency fee basis.