Articles Posted in Medical Malpractice

Continue reading

YEAR / STATE

Continue reading

A lawsuit filed against the Cleveland VA Medical Center has settled for $500,000. The lawsuit was filed after the death of a 59 year old veteran, who was being operated on to repair a hernia. What he was not told was that the VA surgeon had only been licensed for a few months, and that this was the first time that he had ever performed the procedure by himself. Experience matters is such a cliche. In surgery, data shows time and time again that experience is everything. Sadly, a hole was made in the deceased man’s intestines during the surgery, allowing the contents of his bowel to spill out into his abdomen – a hole which the VA hospital failed to recognize for several days. The deceased became very sick after developing an infection, and died several months later. Just a tragic, sensless story.

Hernia Repair Verdicts and Settlements

YEAR / STATE

Continue reading

by

A number of cancers arise in the liver or biliary system.  Unlike many cancers, liver cancer (and liver disease) appear to be on the rise.  From 1999 to 2016, annual deaths from liver cancer doubled to 11,073.  Liver cancer is now the fastest increasing cause of cancer death in the United States. 

Why?  it is a good question.   The tragedy is that liver cancer is often preventable.  Approximately 71 percent of liver cancer diagnoses in the U.S. can be attributable to preventable risk factors.  Some of these deaths are also caused by malpractice.  You need to diagnose and treat liver cancer quickly to have the best chance of curing it. 

Liver Cancer Examples

Continue reading

by

Recent findings from the Trial Assigning Individualized Options for Treatment (Rx), also known as the TAILORx trial, show that chemotherapy is not beneficial to the most commonly found form of breast cancer.

Sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), researchers found that chemotherapy does not benefit 70 percent of women with estrogen receptor-positive, HER2-negative, axillary lymph node-negative breast cancer. Hormone therapy combined with chemotherapy is not more beneficial than treating breast cancer with hormone therapy alone. Researchers released this data at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting this year in Chicago.

Details of the study

Continue reading

by

The state of New York agreed on Friday to settle a lawsuit filed by former heavyweight boxer Magomed Abdusalamov for $22 million.  It is thought to be the largest amount ever paid by the state of New York in a settlement.

heavyweight boxer lawsuitFacts in Abdusalamov

Abdusalamov, now 33, fought at Madson Square Garden.  He lost the fight but was not knocked out.  He was evaluated by a New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) doctor after the fight.  Instead of sending him to the hospital after showing symptoms consistent with an acute blood clot in his brain, they released him. He took a cab later to the hospital himself.  The ER doctors immediately diagnosed his blood clot, and he had immediate surgery.

Continue reading

by

A doctor’s failure to properly handle uterine rupture symptoms during childbirth can lead to the death of the child, and injury or death to the mother.   This article discusses these cases and addresses: 

  1. The acts of a physician that lead to vaginal rupture cases.
  2. The types of accidents that lead to large settlements and verdicts.
Continue reading

by

A medical malpractice lawsuit on behalf of a Florida veteran will begin this week against the Miami Veterans’ Administration hospital. In the lawsuit, the plaintiff claims he contracted hepatitis C from an unclean medical device used in a 2007 colonoscopy. This may be the bellwether trial on this issue: there are a dozen similar lawsuits that have been filed in Florida and more have been filed in Tennessee. (Certainly, Tennessee – even with their new malpractice restrictions – is a more hospitable place than Florida for medical malpractice lawsuits.)

by

American Medical News writes an article about an important topic: how doctors emotionally deal with malpractice lawsuits. Let’s be honest, medical malpractice lawyers on both sides of the “v” largely ignore this issue.

Continue reading

by

The Mississippi Supreme Court reversed a directed verdict for a hospital in a nursing medical malpractice action in which the plaintiff suffered IV infiltration – leakage of fluid from an IV into the patient’s tissues from an IV line – and burn injuries.

The directed verdict from the trial court struck Plaintiffs’ expert from testifying as to the standard of care even though the expert had already been accepted as an expert on the nursing care given by the hospital. Had the expert been permitted to testify, she would have testified as to the standard of care for IV infiltrations and that the hospital breached that standard.

The Mississippi high court also make a good call for plaintiffs on the question of the collateral source set off when the amount of the liens/bills have been reduced.

by

The Minnesota Court of Appeals decided an interesting medical malpractice case addressing the bar plaintiffs’ malpractice lawyers must clear when presenting a certificate of merit that will survive summary judgment.

Continue reading

by

There has been a 61% decrease in medical malpractice insurance payouts in Pennsylvania over the last 7 years, according to Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell.

According to the governor, this has led to an 18% decrease in malpractice premiums. I’m trying to figure out why a 61% drop in payouts leads to an 18% decrease in premiums. Where is all the money going? In any event, we still have a doctor shortage in much of Pennsylvania.

Why aren’t doctors fleeing to Pennsylvania? If they are not going to Pennsylvania, where do they go? The top 5 highest paying jobs in the United States are doctors? Are they quitting medicine and becoming real estate agents? Have you ever met a doctor that just stopped practicing medicine and took up something else?

Continue reading