Between January and February, 2026, Attorney Travis Brennan filed suit in three medical malpractice cases that resulted in catastrophic injuries, including death and amputation.
In the first case, Attorney Brennan filed suit on behalf of a widow whose husband died from an alleged delay in diagnosis and treatment of a gastrointestinal bleed by two surgeons at a hospital in Northern Maine. The husband first sought care at the hospital emergency department after vomiting dark red blood. The complaint alleges that the on-call surgeon never went to the hospital to evaluate the husband in person, nor did he recommend that the husband be admitted to the hospital to undergo surgery to evaluate and treat his bleeding ulcer. Instead, the complaint alleges that the surgeon recommended that the husband be discharged and follow up with general surgery on an outpatient basis. Within hours after being sent home the husband became unconscious and suffered further blood loss. At the time he was brought back to the hospital by ambulance he had lost more blood, and his blood pressure had dropped critically low. He received two blood transfusions. Despite all the medical evidence pointing to a gastrointestinal bleed, the surgeon who evaluated the husband failed to perform surgery to address his bleeding ulcer. Once the surgeon finally did take the husband to surgery on the third day, he could not control the bleeding and the husband suffered shock and cardiac arrest before dying on May 7, 2022. Lausier v. The Aroostook Medical Center D/B/A Northern Light A.R. Gould Hospital et al.
Attorney Brennan recently brought suit against a Bangor hospital for failing to screen a pregnant woman and her twin babies for syphilis during pregnancy or at birth, which caused the babies to develop congenital neurosyphilis. As a result, of a delay in diagnosis by at least 9 months, the babies suffered serious injuries. Multiple medical professionals from the Bangor hospital examined the mother from the start of her pregnancy in early 2022 through delivery and none tested her for syphilis, a routine neonatal test required by Maine law. In August 2022, the mother gave birth to twins at the Bangor hospital. The babies were never tested for syphilis. Two months later the mother brought her babies to the Bangor hospital to be examined for pain, extreme crying, and other symptoms. When doctors found both children had bone fractures, and the mother could not explain how such fractures had occurred, they contacted DHHS who took custody of the infants. The children continued to decline while in foster care when the following spring the mother tested positive for syphilis. Her children were subsequently screened and diagnosed with neurosyphilis, which was also determined to be the underlying cause for their multiple bone fractures, anemia, developmental delays, and other symptoms. The delay in diagnosis caused the babies to suffer physical injuries and developmental delays. Love v. Eastern Maine Medical Center D/B/A Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center et al.
In the third case, Attorney Brennan filed suit against a Bangor hospital alleging that its medical providers were negligent in failing to diagnose a man with compartment syndrome and failing to perform an emergent fasciotomy to relieve the pressure in his lower leg. Although compartment syndrome is a surgical emergency, the man was not evaluated by the orthopedic service for nearly two hours after he arrived at the Bangor hospital. Additionally, the on-call orthopedic surgeon never went to the hospital to evaluate the man and, instead, sent a nurse practitioner who misdiagnosed the man with a bacterial skin infection. As alleged in the complaint, the man’s compartment syndrome was not diagnosed for nearly 24 hours until a new orthopedic surgeon evaluated him and immediately diagnosed compartment syndrome. Unfortunately, it was too late at that point and the man went on to require an above-the-knee amputation. Berube v. Eastern Maine Medical Center D/B/A Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center et al.
These three cases highlight Berman & Simmons’ commitment to helping clients who have suffered catastrophic injuries caused by the negligence of others.