Medication errors harm at least 1.5 million people in the United States each year. The National Academy of Medicine estimates that 400,000 preventable drug-related injuries occur each year in hospitals alone. Another 800,000 occur in nursing homes and long-term care settings, and approximately 530,000 occur just among Medicare recipients in outpatient facilities. Tragically, when a medication error occurs, it can cause grievous injury.
After complications from birth, Naomi Pressey was transferred to the Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora, Colorado. At the hospital, Naomi was diagnosed and administered a medication called prostaglandin. However, the hospital staff gave Pressey the wrong dose and the infant girl went into cardiac arrest. She remained unconscious for 33 minutes, which caused her to suffer “severe hypoxic ischemic brain injury, resulting in cerebral palsy.”
According to ABC 7, Pressey’s family filed a lawsuit against the Children’s Hospital Colorado. The Pressey family was awarded $17.8 million, the biggest medical malpractice verdict ever in Colorado. Pressey, who is now 7 years old, suffers from serious disabilities and will require constant supervision for the remainder of her life. This award will help the Pressey family pay for medical bills and continue to care for their daughter in years to come. Leventhal & Puga, P.C. represented the plaintiff.
If you or a loved one have been a victim of a medication error, please call our skilled Massachusetts medication error attorneys at 617-787-3700 or email us at info@gilhoylaw.com.
