United States of America

Knee replacement and knee implant lawsuits allege that devices loosened or did not last as long as they should.  Zimmer faced over 15,000 Biomet lawsuits over its NexGen implant. DePuy Synthes Attune Knee implant lawsuits were also a big thing.  Now Exactech recall lawsuits will be getting filed in massive numbers in 2022 after a big recall.

There have been a lot of questions about hip and knee replacements in recent years. DePuy, Exactech, Stryker, and Zimmer have had – to put it mildly – concerns raised about their products. These companies would argue that the problems are mostly with patients who are having bad outcomes and blaming the insurance companies.

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emergency room malpractice Many states are trying to carve out malpractice caps and different standards of care for emergency room doctors in medical malpractice cases.  

The thinking starts out okay.  Emergency department doctors should be given the benefit of the doubt because things are happening so quickly. But ER doctors are always getting the benefit of the doubt from jurors.  There is statistical evidence of this.  

More importantly, the standard of care already bakes in the fact that things are sometimes happening at the speed of light in the ER.  That is why reasonableness is always based on all the facts and circumstances. Continue reading

Procter & Gamble issued a recall of 30 dry conditioners and shampoos because these products may contain benzene, a cancer-causing chemical P&G recalled aerosol spray products will familiar names such as Aussie, Pantene, Herbal Essence, and Waterless. dry shampoo products from Old Spice and Hair Food.

The products were made by Proctor & Gamble and distributed nationwide through online sales like Amazon and through traditional retailers.

Is this a big deal or a little deal?  Is the Benzene risk real?  This post talks about the recall and what it means.

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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

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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

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It’s the peak of the summer beach season, but if you drop by your local retailer to pick up some sunscreen, you will likely see a lot of empty shelf space. Why? Because independent consumer product testing recently discovered that a number of major sunscreen products contained hazardous levels of benzene. Benzene is a notorious and well-known human carcinogen that is very harmful to the human body.

In response to this discovery, manufacturers and major retailers have started pulling sunscreen spray, lotion, and other products from their shelves. Now plaintiffs’ lawyers around the country are evaluating whether contaminated sunscreen lawsuits could be the next big mass tort.

Valisure Finds Dangerous Levels of Benzene in Sunscreen Products

Last week, in Siebert v. Okun, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that the state’s damages cap in medical malpractice cases was constitutional, concluding the law did not violate the right to a trial by jury. This ruling struck down the Bernalillo County District Court’s 2018 ruling on Siebert v. Okun.

New Mexico’s Medical Malpractice Act

The New Mexico legislature passed the Medical Malpractice Act in 1976. The law caps damages in medical malpractice cases at $600,000. It applies to lost wages and pain and suffering. The cap excludes punitive damages and compensation for medical and rehabilitative treatments.

hernia mesh lawsuitsTo date, thousands of lawsuits related to defective hernia mesh implants have been filed in courts across the country. These suits claim that defective surgical implant devices were the cause of chronic pain, serious infections, obstructed bowels, perforated abdomen lining, and the development of adhesions. Some plaintiffs’ injuries were severe enough that they needed further surgeries to correct these issues.

Years, ago, I wrote a blog about a frivolous Little League baseball lawsuit.  Going through that old post in 2020, I realized no one really cared seven years later.  (in fact, I started to post the old post at the end of the piece but decided it was truly worthless.

But settlement and verdicts in baseball-related personal injury lawsuits does seem of interest to many of us who spend our winters indoors playing baseball and out spring, summer, and fall out on the baseball field.  

Baseball-Related Verdicts and Settlements

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

We buy car insurance hoping we never need to go through the process of submitting a claim. When accidents happen, we hope the claims process is smooth and simple.  Seems like a reasonable expectation because you or the at-fault driver paid your premium every month in a way that made it smooth and simple for the insurance company.  But it does not work that way, right?

There are several reasons that your claim may be denied. This denial can often cause a significant financial strain on you and your family. . If you’ve recently been in a car accident, you may be counting on the money from the insurance claim to pay medical and other bills.

If your claim has been denied, you need to figure out quickly why and what you can do to get the money you deserve.