Doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies are tasked with restoring the health of patients in need. This mission is so critical that even small mistakes can result in catastrophic injuries for patients. Kidneys are particularly vulnerable, rendering them susceptible to serious injury if health care providers are not careful every step of the way. David A. Axelrod & Associates fights for patients who have endured kidney injuries due to medical malpractice.
Kidney Transplants and Operations
Patients may await a kidney transplant for years, only to be given an infected organ. This inevitably leads to further injury, such as potential organ failure or even death.
Medical malpractice leading to kidney injuries may also occur during kidney operations. Negligent physicians can make a variety of critical errors during kidney operations. Surgeons may do something as basic as operating on the wrong kidney, or they may fail to render the appropriate post-surgery care to enable a patient to make a full recovery. In other instances, surgeons have operated on organs located near the kidneys and inadvertently caused kidney injuries by failing to use proper surgical techniques.
Prescription Drugs that Cause Kidney Injuries
Mismanagement of medication is one way that medical malpractice causes kidney injuries. Even when medication has been properly dispensed, prescription drugs may cause serious kidney reactions in some patients. Doctors have a duty to ask patients about their kidney health history and order appropriate testing before prescribing medication that puts a patient at risk for serious kidney injuries.
Long-Term Consequences of Kidney Injuries
Acute kidney injuries leave kidneys unable to perform their primary function of filtering waste from the body. Without functioning kidneys, toxins accumulate in the blood, creating both short and long term health risks. Proper kidney function is so essential to the human body that researchers have associated acute kidney injuries with a 15-33% increased risk of death, even 10 years after the injuries are sustained. Accordingly, serious kidney injuries affect both the short-term health and longevity of patients.
David A. Axelrod & Associates: Proven Results in Kidney Injury Cases
David A. Axelrod & Associates has successfully represented clients involving kidney injuries. In one case, David A. Axelrod & Associates won a jury verdict of over $31 million against Walgreen Co. when a drug-abusing pharmacist placed the wrong pills into a customer’s prescription bottle. This critical error led to a patient’s permanent kidney failure, brain injuries and, ultimately, death.
David A. Axelrod & Associates also negotiated a settlement of over $10 million in lifetime payments from a hospital and a doctor where an infant’s acute kidney failure went undiagnosed. These kidney injuries led to multiple surgeries, hospitalizations, and long-term risk of end-stage kidney failure.
