Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorneys Owen, Patterson & Owen Representing Additional Victims of Radiation Overdose As More Hospitals Become Involved
Radiation overdose issues from brain scans, thought to be limited to one Los Angeles hospital and a GE scanner, are now under investigation at additional hospitals and manufacturers. Los Angeles personal injury attorneys Owen, Patterson & Owen are representing several victims and offer a free no obligation consultation concerning rights to a lawsuit or other legal options.
Valencia, CA (PRWEB) December 10, 2009
The radiation overdose problem originally thought to be limited to 206 patients of Cedars-Sinai who received CT scans over a period of 18 months seems to be more widespread than previously thought. Los Angeles personal injury attorneys (http://www. opolaw. com/) Owen, Patterson & Owen are representing several victims and offer a free no obligation consultation to others as new incidents have recently been uncovered.
The Los Angeles Times reports (http://bit. ly/5yL6jN) that additional concerns have been brought to light at Burbank's Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, Glendale Adventist Medical Center, and Huntsville Hospital in Alabama. Health officials have been reviewing machinery at other hospitals to look for similar overdose issues. Officials from Glendale Adventist Medical Center report that upon review, its machinery was found to be delivering an overdose, though at a lower level than that discovered at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. Additionally, Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank and Huntsville Hospital in Alabama are being looked at as having possibly delivered overdoses to patients.
The Los Angeles times story (http://bit. ly/5yL6jN) further identifies the scanning equipment under scrutiny at both Glendale Adventist and Cedars-Sinai is manufactured by General Electric. The scanner at Providence St. Joseph was made by Toshiba. Patients from other hospitals, including patients from as far away as Alabama, have now reported suffering post-CT scan side effects that indicate excessive radiation was used. A radiation overdose information (http://www. opolaw. com/PracticeAreas/cedars-sinai-radiation-overdose. asp) page has been created to follow the lastest news events related to these investigations. In both the Glendale Adventist case and the Cedars-Sinai case, the problem began when the hospitals programmed the scanners with new computerized instructions.
Michael Chee, a spokesman from Glendale Adventist, reports that representatives from GE have been examining the Glendale scanner this week, attempting to diagnose what went wrong. "We don't have a clear answer yet," he said.
A safety investigation (http://articles. latimes. com/2009/oct/10/local/me-cedars-sinai10) conducted by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the multi-slice CT machines used at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center revealed that 206 patients "received radiation doses that were approximately eight times the expected level."
In a document obtained by the law firm of Owens, Patterson & Owen, Cedars-Sinai indicates that this high level of radiation may have arisen from shortcomings in the scanning equipment, which means that multiple hospitals using GE scanning equipment might have been putting patients at risk of receiving unsafe levels of radiation.
Symptoms of radiation overdose include hair loss, nausea, and erythema (redness and inflammation of skin). Long-term effects can include cancer.
"People should not panic, but continue to monitor the hospitals that they go to and ask questions about the procedures," said Rick Patterson (http://www. opolaw. com/CM/Custom/Richard-Patterson. asp), Senior Partner at the personal injury law firm of Owen, Patterson & Owen.
Owen, Patterson & Owen extends its legal expertise to help patients who may have received a radiation overdose and their families. A free, no obligation consultation is available via the company's website or by calling the firm's toll-free number listed at the bottom of this page.
"Our law firm has spent the past 30 years helping people like the patients of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center deal with the hospital's lawyers," said Rick Patterson. "We make sure that innocent victims don't suffer silently. When your health is at risk, you have every right to know what went wrong, why and what is being done to compensate you for the damages you have suffered. It is also our goal in this litigation to make certain that changes are made in hospital procedures which will prevent this tragic mistake from happening again."
Rick Patterson quotes the firm's past experience in dealing with similar cases--"Our dedicated personal injury attorneys played an instrumental role in obtaining a $4.85 billion settlement on behalf of plaintiffs injured or killed by the dangerous drug Vioxx and a record setting $35 million pretrial settlement on behalf of a 12-year-old brain damaged Palmdale girl. We take our responsibility towards the people we represent in personal injury cases very seriously."
About Owen, Patterson & Owen:
Since 1977, the Owen, Patterson and Owen (OPO) team has successfully handled a range of personal injury cases ranging from medical malpractice to birth accidents and wrongful death. Serving clients nationwide and headquartered in Valencia, Southern California, the law firm's clients rely on them to look out for their best interests. The firm's dedicated personal injury attorneys played an instrumental role in obtaining a $4.85 billion settlement of the dangerous drug Vioxx and a record-setting $35 million pretrial settlement on behalf of a 12-year-old brain damaged Palmdale girl.
OPO Law now also represents clients affected by radiation overdose from a CT brain perfusion scan. For more information, please visit www. OPOLaw. com or call 866.654.4947.
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