Attorney Spotlight: Brendan McQuaid

One of the newest additions to our attorney team, Brendan practiced law in Florida at an insurance defense firm and then at a personal injury firm before joining Zinda Law Group in our Denver office.

Brendan graduated with a bachelor's degree in applied economics and management from the prestigious Cornell University, where he was also a star pitcher for the Big Red baseball team, and he later earned his law degree with honors from the University of Miami School of Law.

To learn more about Brendan, visit his attorney profile.

Choking Injuries

Choking Injuries

Choking hazards are a large risk to children primarily. Everybody may suffer a choking injury from time to time from a more common problem, like not chewing your food properly or taking too large of bites. However, children are much more susceptible to choking, particularly when it comes to toys. A lot of toys are made of, or may have small parts. These parts can break off easily, or are simply too small for young kids. Often, those toys come with warnings, particularly for children under 3. The Consumer Products Safety Commission says that toys with warnings should be free of hazards. However, efforts are often made to get a toy to the market as fast as possible, and to make more money. Subsequently, toy companies may put a product out a little bit too quickly, and fail to give parents appropriate warnings. Therefore, no matter how much care that parent may take in supervising the child, those things can get overlooked.

Anesthesia Errors

Anesthesia Errors and Medical Malpractice

When a person undergoes a surgical procedure, there is always risk, not simply from the surgery, but also from the administered anesthesia. An anesthesiologist is responsible for more than administering anesthesia in the operating room. They are also responsible for maintaining and monitoring levels of consciousness throughout the surgery. Anesthesia errors are rare, but they do occur. Anesthesia is a very common use in surgeries today, including major procedures in hospitals to more routine procedures in a doctor's or dental office. Anesthesia is used to eliminate pain during a medical procedure. This may be used in a particular location or region, or in order to partially or completely sedate a person. About one in every 250,000 anesthesia patients may result in a wrongful death if serious complications occur.

Common causes of anesthesia error during surgeries include:

• Overdose or underdose of anesthesia
• Delayed delivery of anesthesia
• Failure to avoid an allergic reaction 
• Drug interactions complications
• Failure to properly administer oxygen during surgery
• Failure to properly monitor the patient
• Use of defective medical equipment during sedation

Common medical malpractice injuries due to anesthesia error can include:

• Asphyxia
• Anesthesia awareness
• Birth defects
• Brain aneurysm
• Brain damage
• Cardiovascular Injury
• Coma
• Death
• Heart attack
• Loss of bodily function
• Spinal cord injury which can lead to paralysis
• Stroke

Top 3 reasons for anesthesia errors:

1. Poor communication between staff members. Fatigue, personality conflicts, or the rush to complete surgery often cause the anesthesiologist or technicians to fail to consider all of the anesthesia safety factors including the patient's age, weight, history with anesthesia, and type of surgery.

2. Improper training, experience, certification. Many technicians do not have the proper background to be administering anesthesia. Unfortunately anesthesia professionals get a lot of "on the job training" in hospitals and emergency rooms. You never know when you could wind up being someone's practice.

3. Failure to read chart notes or orders. Although someone might have noted your medical conditions, allergies, etc. someone else may not have looked at that notation. You might be given anesthesia that could cause you to have a heart attack or stroke.

If you or a loved one have been the victim of a anesthesia error, contact our experienced medical malpractice attorneys.

Dental Malpractice

Dental Malpractice Claims

Today, people visit the dentist’s office at least twice a year. Unfortunately, as visits increase, so do the number of dental malpractice issues. This is due to dentists branching out from the more common procedures that they are used to or are qualified to perform. Not unlike a medical malpractice situation, dentists can be guilty of performing a procedure, or conducting their practice in manners that do not meet the standards of their professional competency. When these substandard practices result in patient injury, a dental malpractice claim results. For success, claims require an expert testimony to address the standards required in that field, and how the dentists failed to meet them. Malpractice charges can be filed against the organization that is operating the practice, or against the dentist or specialist who performed the procedure and failed to identify the patient’s needs.

Dentists should be held accountable for their treatments and medical judgement, and patients who are injured as a result of dental malpractice have the right to pursue legal claims, including filing a complaint with the state dental board, and filing a dental malpractice lawsuit.

Common forms of dental malpractice include:

• Wrongfully administered anesthesia
• Infections caused by improperly sterilized dental equipment
• Failure to diagnose and treat periodontal disease
• Unwarranted delay in treatment
• Misdiagnosis of a dental condition
• Needless extraction of teeth

4 Elements Necessary  to Prove Dental Malpractice

1. The Existence of a Duty – You must to prove that your dentist has a duty to properly care for you.  This is implied by the dentist-patient relationship. This is easily proven through patient intake records.

2. A Breach of Care – You must prove that your dentist violated the standard of care.  The standard of care is roughly defined as what is clinically acceptable and recommended treatment and procedure given the medical condition and circumstances. For example, if your dentist was performing a root canal and cut too deep damaging a nerve, then that would be a violation of the standard of care. 

3. The Dentist Injured You –You must prove that the dentist injured you.  This shouldn’t be too hard since the reason most people decide to pursue a malpractice claim is because of an injury.

4. Proof that The Violation of Care Caused the Injury – You must prove that your injury occurred because of the dentist’s negligence.  For example, let’s say that Max goes to see Dr. Gums for a dental treatment.  Max only brushes his teeth three times a week, never flosses and has lots of cavities.  He goes to get hem filled from Dr. Gums.  While the dentist is drilling, he accidentally hits Max's gums with the drill and causes a sore.  A few monthly later,Max has developed gum recession around his teeth. In order to win a lawsuit claiming that Dr. Gums caused his gum recession, Max must prove that it was the dentist’s drill that caused the gum recession, not his own poor oral hygiene,  which would be hard to prove. 

Failure to Diagnose

Misdiagnosos and Failure to Diagnose

Medical malpractice is an term that encompasses a wide array of negligent acts by a medical provider, such as a doctor, nurse, dentist or surgeon. Examples of medical malpractice include a medical professional's improper administration of treatment, administration of the wrong treatment, misdiagnosis and failure to diagnose an accurate affliction or illness. One of the largest causes of a malpractice case is a misdiagnosis or a failure to diagnose. 

This happens often in emergency rooms with pressure to take immediate action. However, there are numerous other ways in which malpractice cases appear. This can include when lab technicians or radiologists misread studies, when doctors fail to order appropriate testing, or when nurses fail to relay symptoms. The most common malpractices that come up are a failure to diagnose cancer, multiple sclerosis, treating infections, or heart conditions. When people aren't accurately or promptly diagnosed, they are at risk of having some sort of detrimental impact. That can range from a worst chance of recovery, a longer recovery period, or permanent damage that may result in some sort of paralysis or even death. 

There are many ways a doctor or medical staff might not adequately diagnose a patient.  These include:

• misreading test results
• failing to consider the patient’s history
• failing to order the necessary tests
• failing to listen to the patient
• failing to refer a patient to the proper surgeon
• failing to prescribe the correct medication
• failing to elavulate correct treatment options

Just because your medical provider failed to diagnose a condition accurately does not mean you immediately have a medical malpractice claim. Medical malpractice can be very difficult and costly to prove. If you believe you may have a malpractice claim, you should consult a knowledgeable personal injury attorney to ensure you have a strong case. Depending on the particular cause of a failure to diagnose or misdiagnosis, you may be able to file a lawsuit against the hospital, doctor, nurse or perhaps your medical insurance company for their actions.

Food Borne Illness and Contamination

Food Borne Illness and Contamination

In the food industry, food borne illness and contamination is one of the greatest risks. In order to be successful after you have suffered from food borne illness and contamination, you must prove three things. The first is, “Fault.” That means that a seller or processor improperly stored, packaged, handled, or prepared the suspect food. The second requirement to show is something called, “Causation.” This demonstrates that what the sellers or processors did actually caused the contamination. This includes improper storage or packaging, handling, or preparation. Not only must those be demonstrated, but also a third requirement called, “Damage”. “Damage” calls for proof that the contamination is what actually caused your injury and the harms and losses you have sustained.

Plastic Surgery Claims

Plastic Surgery Errors and Claims

Plastic surgery is extremely popular in American culture today, with millions of women and men going under the knife to regain a more youthful look or otherwise enhance and improve their appearance.  It is estimated that there are nearly two million cosmetic surgeries performed each year in the United States and another nine million minimally invasive procedures done. When a cosmetic surgery goes bad, the results can be embarrassing, traumatic or even life-threatening. Plastic surgery can leave a person with a lifetime of pain or complications. Loss of work, chronic pain and emotional problems are just some of the issues a victim may face. Some of the more severe problems  can lead to the need of expensive and extensive corrective surgeries or even death. Survivors of victims who died may face a loss of financial support as well as medical and funeral bills for wrongful deaths claims from plastic surgery gone wrong. 

The general risks for anyt cosmetic procedure includes:

• infection of surgical area
• allergic reaction or other complications from anesthesia
• hematoma or blood clotting under the skin
• unsightly scarring
• drop in blood pressure
• necrosis (insufficient supply of oxygen causing death of tissue)
• nerve damage
• death due to severe complications

Cosmetic surgeons can be sued for malpractice like any other medical doctor, but the elective nature of plastic surgery makes it more difficult to bring legal claims successfully. In a plastic surgery lawsuit, in order to be successful you must show that the doctor and their staff breached some sort of standard care. Whether a cosmetic or a reconstructive surgery, problems arise during facial reconstructions, breast augmentations, forehead brow-lift surgeries and tummy tucks. One thing we have noticed that clients always ask is why these cases are becoming so prevalent. It’s a big business, and they cost a lot of money. Unfortunately, many of the individuals that are performing these surgeries aren't fully trained or fully experienced in performing these types of procedures.

To successfully sue for medical malpractice, you must be able to show:

• the existence of a doctor/patient relationship
• that the surgeon failed to act with the level of skill and care 
• that you suffered injuries as a result of that failure
• the damages were caused by the breach of duty or negligence

If you or a loved one is a victim of bad plastic surgery, contact a medical malpractice attorney specializing in botched plastic surgery to discuss the details of your case.  If you have had bad plastic surgery, talk to a medical malpractice attorney about your legal claim.

Chemical Exposure Claims

Chemical Exposure Claims

Often times we receive phone calls from potential clients regarding chemical exposure claims. One of the biggest issues is that people suffer without even knowing it, from exposure to toxic chemicals, vapours, or gas. This can lead to skin problems, respiratory issues, brain injuries, organ failure and even death. These cases are really tough, because toxic elements often appear without any odor or color. Further complicating these cases is the lack of information. You don’t have a vehicle number or picture of the vehicle to show what happened; you don’t have a video to show what or how the injury in the store occurred. In order for these cases to be successful, usually an expert testimony is required. Now the attorneys at Zinda Law Group are ready to fight these claims with the right type of experts. Zinda Law Group will work hard to help you and your family possibly recover from the harms and the losses that you have sustained.

Passenger's Rights

Passenger's Rights

To bring in a personal injury claim, you don't have to be the driver of a motor vehicle. Oftentimes, our clients are the passengers in the vehicle. They may have questions as to who they can bring their claim against. First, if it is a car accident, you can bring a claim against your own insurance company or the driver's insurance company, if they are separate. If it is a two car accident or more, you can bring a claim against your own insurance company or the driver's insurance company, if they are separate, and the opposing party in the other vehicle. One of the good things about being a passenger is that you can use two different Personal Injury Protection (PIP) policies. PIP pays your medical bills, up to the coverage limit, and up to 80% of your lost wages. You can collect PIP money from your insurance company and from the insurance company of the driver of the vehicle in which you occupied. This qualifies if you choose to have that type of coverage on your policy, and the other party does not get a credit for any PIP monies that you have received. Another question passengers in an incident may have is about how much they collect from the driver's insurance company of the vehicle they occupy. One thing you want to be careful of is if you are related to the driver of the vehicle that you occupy. In this case, something called "The Family Member Exclusion" applies. Be sure to look at the policy language in the driver’s insurance policy. Some exclusions may prevent you from recovering, or may minimize the amount allowable under Texas Law.

What Type of Insurance Coverage Should I Have on My Vehicle?

What Type of Insurance Coverage Should I Have on My Vehicle?

Car insurance companies spend millions of dollars every year advertising on television, billboards, and websites. Most often, their selling point is low rates or inexpensive ways to keep your car insured. What type of insurance coverage you should purchase for your vehicle depends on several factors: income, whether or not your vehicle is paid off, how old the vehicle is, familial status, age, and several other considerations. However, oftentimes people don’t understand what they’re potentially giving up should you choose the cheapest car insurance policy allowed under Texas law.

The least expensive insurance on your vehicle is ‘liability only’ insurance. This covers damage only in the event that you are at fault. The idea behind this insurance is that it’s inexpensive, and this often leads people to believe that if they’re not at fault for a wreck they can just go through the opposing party’s insurance company for any property damage or bodily injury claim.

However, despite the fact that Texas requires all drivers to be insured, only 75%-80% actually have valid coverage. If one of those 20%-25% is responsible for a wreck, and you have ‘liability only’ insurance, you may be out of luck having any insurance company pay for your car or medical bills.

By purchasing full coverage through your car insurance carrier, you can be protected in a situation like the one described above. Additionally, by increasing the coverage amount on your car insurance policy, you protect yourself from a situation in which you may have extremely high medical bills or significant injuries.

If you have a question about insurance coverage that exists on your vehicle or on the party responsible for a car accident, please give the experienced attorneys at Zinda Law Group a call for a free consultation.