Today we welcome our friend Sean M. Cleary of The Law Offices of Sean M. Cleary as a guest blogger. Over the last 18 years, Mr. Cleary, owner and President of The Law Offices of Sean M. Cleary has established a reputation as a Miami experienced, highly skilled personal injury lawyer. He has helped numerous victims who have suffered injuries due to someone's negligence hold the responsible parties liable by compelling them to provide substantial compensation. Together with the moral aspects of each case he has to deal with, Mr. Cleary is always concentrating on having good results in court.
His entire working philosophy resides on having an open and flexible communication process with every client or party involved in a case. His demeanor and ambition brought him, and his law office deserved positive reputation and trust.
We hope you enjoy this blog.
Collapsed Lung Case
Sean M. Cleary was able to achieve justice on behalf of a victim of medical negligence. The case illustrates that a competent attorney can obtain some measure of justice and relief for a medical malpractice victim via compensation from the responsible parties.
Plaintiff was seen by her primary doctor for a yearly checkup and sent immediately to the ER with documents proving she suffered a spontaneous pneumothorax. However, at the ER, check-in personnel refused to record the diagnosis because it didn't come directly from a doctor. Plaintiff's urgent treatment was delayed more than an hour due to these administrative demands and to a shift change. Her treatment was further delayed when the emergency physicians had difficulties interpreting the initial CT that came from her primary doctor and ordered a new set of tests.
A pneumothorax can steadily increase in size and lead to a potentially life-threatening condition. To prevent this from happening, a pneumothorax deemed to be significant in size should be treated by aspirating the air. When a spontaneous pneumothorax requires urgent management, patients receive advice to go immediately to the ER.
The emergency physicians managed Plaintiff's spontaneous pneumothorax by insertion of a standard chest tube. This procedure was the wrong treatment choice, and it led to the lung re-expanding too fast, and the chest tube tearing the lung. Due to this mistake, Plaintiff had to undergo surgery to have her lung repaired.
The doctors who performed the emergency procedure were not lung specialists. ER doctors work around the clock, but they don't always have the expertise to treat patients with unique conditions.
Spontaneous pneumothorax is usually recurrent, and a patient should be warned of the possibility of similar episodes occurring in the future. If patients do once again present with symptoms of pneumothorax, they should seek medical advice without delay, as their condition could have deteriorated.
Plaintiff's at-home recovery progressed without any problems for about a month, but she was scheduled to travel to Mexico. Before traveling, Plaintiff went for checkups to every single doctor the hospital required her to see, and they all assured her she was able to travel. The doctors confirmed to Plaintiff that her collapsed lung would not cause any other health complications.
After two weeks in Mexico, just a day before being scheduled to fly back to the US, Plaintiff's lung collapsed for the second time. She had to go to the hospital in Guadalajara where she was hospitalized for 23 days and underwent 2 additional surgeries.
Plaintiff was referred to The Law Offices of Sean M. Cleary through a friend. In the claim filed, it was alleged that the standard of care for a hospital was that it must provide treatment to a patient like this woman requiring a physician qualified to diagnose and treat pneumothorax. Because the treatment was delayed and wrongly managed in the ER and the following check-ups, Plaintiff suffered a second pneumothorax and required additional hospitalization and surgeries. An investigation proved that the physicians conducted a brief and incomplete examination. The case settled for a confidential sum.
The client was very happy with the outcome of her case settlement. "Sean really made an effort to make me understand everything," said Grimsel M., Plaintiff. "He understood what happened and he was really honest with me."
The Law Offices of Sean M. Cleary was determined to hold the hospital corporation accountable, meeting deadlines, locating and deposing multiple parties, dealing with experts, and arguing motions. Success required diligent efforts and an attorney who could seamlessly juggle these various facets and obtain a favorable outcome for the client.
Sean M. Cleary was pleased with the case outcome. "My client was a hardworking woman whose life was altered by the carelessness of another," stated Mr. Cleary." Although my client will never be able to recover everything she lost, the function of our civil justice system is to try to restore the lives of victims to their condition. This case accomplishes that."
The Law Offices of Sean M. Cleary maintains a solid reputation in the community and among peers for experience and results in matters of civil litigation representing plaintiffs in substantial personal injury, medical malpractice, product liability and wrongful death cases. This medical malpractice case is one of many handled by Sean M. Cleary.
