Liver and Kidney Failure

The livers and kidneys are two of vital body organs. Unfortunately, like parts of a machine, these organs do not last forever and some people develop liver or kidney failure that is so severe that they require dialysis, drainage of ascites (fluid) or even a transplant.

When we get involved in these situations as medical malpractice attorneys, we are usually looking at two key questions. First, what caused the injury to the organ to begin with and is that something that should that should have been avoided? If not, the next question is whether or not the liver or kidney condition could have been better treated so as to avoid dialysis or the need for a transplant. Also, we look at whether the transplant surgery was done properly.

For people who have liver or kidney injuries, the financial burdens can be tremendous. In the case of kidney injury, dialysis is very expensive, and if a transplant is needed anti-rejection medications which must be taken for the rest of the patient's life are very costly. Likewise, anti-rejection medications are quite costly for liver transplant patients.

In addition to the financial burden, injuries to the livers or kidneys often cause a significant change in lifestyle for the patient. When injury to the kidney happens through no fault of the patient, they are entitled to be compensated for the change in lifestyle which they experience.

Over the past 25 years, the attorneys at Gismondi & Associates have successfully handled a variety of cases involving a injury to the kidneys or liver including:

• Multi-million dollar recovery on behalf of a Pittsburgh woman who developed kidney failure because her pre-eclampsia was not properly treated in pregnancy. She required a kidney transplant at a young age.
• A recovery of nearly one million dollars on behalf of a young child who suffered kidney damage at the time of birth due to medical mistakes in connection with her delivery. The recovery was large enough to secure the child’s financial future in the event that she may need a transplant as an adult.
• A recovery well in excess of one million dollars on behalf of a widow of a man who died because his liver was lacerated when a chest tube was improperly placed by a surgeon.