Tracheostomy Expert Witness

This case involves a 78-year-old male patient with a history of COPD who developed pneumonia and required intubation. Because the patient was difficult to wean, the attending physician ordered a tracheostomy. During the procedure, there was an electrocautery-ignited surgical field…

This case involves an elderly female patient who had a tracheostomy tube placed following a neck surgery. The patient was transferred to a skilled nursing facility and placed under the care of a nurse practitioner. The nurse practitioner did not inform the team…

This case involves a middle-aged male patient who presented to the hospital with a seizure. The patient developed an allergic reaction to the blood pressure medication he was given during his ED course and his airway began to swell uncontrollably. Intubation was indicated for airway…

This case involves a young man who was involved in a severe car accident and needed to be placed on a tracheostomy tube. After a day of being on the tracheostomy tube, the respiratory therapist noticed his oxygen saturation started…

A critical care expert witness advises on a case happened in New Hampshire involving a patient who died as a result of aspiration pneumonia following a traumatic brain injury. This case involves a fifty-five-year-old female patient who died as a…

This case involves a patient who was admitted to the hospital ICU after an unintentional drug overdose. The patient had shallow breathing. The emergency room physician inserted an endotracheal tube to aid the patient’s breathing because she was comatose and…

This case involves a child who was born with Pierre Robin Syndrome. The child had a cleft palate and a compromised airway and also had various heart and lung abnormalities. The child underwent a tracheostomy to repair his breathing and…

This case involved a twenty-five-year-old female who developed hoarseness as a result of thyroid surgery. This woman was diagnosed with severe hyperthyroidism, requiring a thyroidectomy. Prior to the procedure, the surgeon explained one of the complications of the surgery as…

This case involves a 53-year-old female who presented to the ED complaining of a 3-4 days history of multiple episodes of daily, non-bilious, non-bloody vomiting along with generalized, diffuse, non-radiating abdominal pain (7/10), and decreased flatus.  The patient denied fever,…