Articles Posted in Medical Malpractice

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If you Google “unnecessary heart stents” most of the searches come up discussing the stent debacle at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Maryland. But Maryland might just be the tipping point. The same health care system with the same financial incentives for doctors for using heart stents exists throughout the country. I suspect unnecessary stent medical malpractice lawsuits will be the next wave of malpractice lawsuits. In many jurisdictions, although I suspect not in Maryland when all is said and done, there will be a great case for punitive damages.

Stent lawsuits in jurisdictions with punitive damages involving a hospital systematically providing unnecessary heart stents may be big cases. Punitive damage claims against individual doctors are typically of limited utility because the doctors have limited assets – relatively speaking – and the insurance policies do not cover intentional torts. Obviously, hospitals have more insurance and deeper pockets.

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James A. Goodyear, president of the Pennsylvania Medical Society, says that because Pennsylvania doctors win a defense verdict in 85 percent of malpractice lawsuits that go to trial, it may be that “too many claims are advancing that shouldn’t.”

Alternative view: good malpractice lawsuits settle before trial.

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Medical malpractice can happen in almost any medical context because there is often a lot at stake in treating a patient. There are grave consequences to many physician errors. Doctors can prescribe the wrong medication for a relatively insignificant illness and cause life-altering or fatal consequences. In fairness, there are few professions where the consequences of errors are so meaningful. Most jobs are far more forgiving of mistakes. But many mistakes on the human body cannot be easily undone.

Still, there are several common types of inquiries medical malpractice lawyers repeatedly get from clients:

Breast Cancer: Failure to diagnose breast cancer is a common malpractice claim. Often, a missed breast cancer diagnosis claim is against a radiologist who misreads a mammogram. While it is true that good doctors can make mistakes, the reality is there are a minority of radiologists who are not very good at reading a mammogram and fail to see the severity of the breast lump is ignored as benign or underestimated.

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A Kentucky jury has ordered a doctor’s malpractice insurance company to pay $3.8 million for acting in bad faith by delaying payment on a claim it knew its client was liable for, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports. The insurance company initially offered the Plaintiff $75,000 to settle her case despite the fact that the malpractice insurance company estimated the case to be worth $1 million. Typical stuff that does not surprise any malpractice lawyers. Plaintiff was left permanently disabled after her doctor botched a cosmetic procedure the doctor suggested the Plaintiff had while she underwent a hysterectomy.

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Pennsylvania’s highest court last week in Fitzpatrick v. Natter that circumstantial evidence provided by a plaintiff’s spouse in a medical malpractice lawsuit is sufficient to get past summary judgment in an informed consent malpractice claim. The court found that a Pennsylvania Superior Courty had erred in concluding that Pennsylvania’s informed consent law required the Plaintiff to testify herself about information that was not provided by her doctor.

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A Broward County, Florida jury has awarded $3.5 million to the family of a man who died 17 days after being implanted with a pacemaker. According to the family’s wrongful death lawyer, the jury found that doctors committed medical malpractice by not delaying the procedure because the man developed lung problems prior to the surgery.

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The South Dakota Supreme Court has upheld South Dakota Circuit Judge Jon Erickson’s decision to grant a new trial in a medical malpractice lawsuit against a Huron doctor. The medical malpractice lawsuit arose out of complications from gallbladder surgery in 2001. The jury instruction stated:

A doctor is not necessarily negligent because the physician errs in judgment or because efforts prove unsuccessful.

The physician is negligent if the error in judgment or lack of success is due to a failure to perform any of the duties defined in these instructions.

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Oregon Health and Science University is looking to move past claims of medical malpractice that have been brought against the hospital, settling 6 malpractice case on Friday for $38.6. Oregon Health and Science University has insurance through Washington Casualty, which will cover $21.35 million of the settlement costs of these six medical malpractice lawsuits.

Not everyone is happy. Scott Gallant, of the Oregon Medical Association, says that now that these lawsuits have been resolved, it means that “schools, special districts, and others, are going to pay substantially higher premiums to try to cover essentially unlimited liability where there’s an unfortunate injury that might occur in their official duties.”

Gee, Scott, what is the alternative? One of the cases involved a $9.3 million settlement to a boy who suffered prolonged oxygen deprivation causing permanent and profound brain damage because of medical malpractice at OHSU. How much do you think the boy should have received?

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Medical malpractice lawyers filed an informed consent lawsuit last week accusing a doctor of amputating a man’s penis without his consent. In the lawsuit, a Kentucky man alleges that the doctor was only authorized to perform a circumcision. What happened—right or wrong – was the doctor did what he thought he should, to save the patient’s life when he found cancer during the operation.

I won’t prejudge this lawsuit without hearing the evidence. I can certainly imagine a scenario where a doctor finds cancer during a routine operation and does what the doctor believes he must do to save the patient. The Plaintiff affirmed the doctor’s prerogative in this regard by signing a consent form acknowledging that unforeseen conditions discovered during the circumcision “may necessitate additional or different procedures.” But I would reserve judgment on the merits of the case because it really depends on whether reasonable minds could differ as to what was the appropriate course.

But I find disturbing that the lawsuit seeks punitive damages. Unless facts in the case exist that were not included in the Courier-Journal article I read, there is no malice or even recklessness in a doctor – right or wrong – deciding to save a patient’s life.

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Medical Malpractice Verdicts and Settlements Involving Piedmont Medical Center 

  • 2020, South Carolina: $1,000,000 Verdict. A 66-year-old man fell down several steps. His medical history included Stage IV liver cancer and bony metastases. The man presented to Piedmont Medical Center’s ER. His CT scans were interpreted as normal. The man was discharged. His symptoms worsened. Two days later, the man presented to a different ER. He was diagnosed with an L1 fracture and nine rib fractures. The man developed kidney failure and pneumonia. He was discharged to comfort care. The man died weeks later. His family alleged negligence against Piedmont. They claimed its staff failed to properly read his CT scans and order additional tests. The jury awarded $1,000,000.
  • 2019, South Carolina: $625,000 Settlement. An 86-year-old woman developed bedsores while hospitalized at Piedmont Medical Center. She died from her injuries. The woman’s family alleged negligence against Piedmont. They claimed its staff failed to periodically rotate her, prevent bedsores, provide an appropriate bed, and make a wound care specialist referral. This case settled for $625,000.
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