Health Law

Silent Tort Reform: Watch out for Premption

Posted on April 01, 2008
People over Profits.  That is how it should be.  It isn't. So now pharmaceutical companies and any company regulated by the federal government want to be able to keep you out of state court.  Why?  They say that because the federal government has approved a drug or medical device or consumer product, that it therefore is "safe"...

New Jersey Cerebral Palsy Verdict

Posted on March 30, 2008
No question.  This is a large verdict and it is no wonder that the the defense has said publicly that they will seek a new trial. That is standard.  Take a look at the facts laid out in this quote.  This (in my opinion) is a pretty typical medical malpractice case involving a delay in diagnosing the problem...

Massachusetts Settlement means disabled people can live in homes

Posted on March 28, 2008
In this settlement, people with disabilities such as Cerebral Palsy and Mental Retardation will be moved to homes and apartments and will not be required to live in nursing homes.  They will also have staff and services made available to them as part of the settlement...

Here's how a malpractice cap affects a verdict

Posted on March 12, 2008
In a recent medical malpractice verdict in Indiana a jury awarded $3.7 Million to a young person with cerebral palsy.  Indiana state law reduces that amount to $2 Million under a law that caps verdicts. Hmmm.  So what that means is that the insurance company gets to fight tooth and nail to keep from paying out and when they lose big then they are still protected...

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$3 Million Dollar Settlement in the Northeast

Posted on March 11, 2008
At least is appears to be in the northeast.  This just a blog post announcing a settlement.  Note how the post says that the plaintiff will receive $29 Million over the course of her life.  That is because the present value of the settlement may be $3 Million but that is used to purchase an annuity that will provide $29Million in payments for the rest of her life (or some set time)...

You Following the Botox Investigation?

Posted on March 10, 2008
For those of you following the botix news and investigation here is a quick link to an article.  Allegan has received a subpoena concerning the promotion of Botox. NEW YORK (Reuters) - Allergan Inc said on Monday that it received a subpoena from the U...

Breast Cancer Misdiagnosis Verdict in Pennsylvania

Posted on March 01, 2008
Another pretty large verdict.  Often these verdicts make the news because of their size.  Please notice that there is usually an offer to settle for the insurance policy limits or some other number.  In many states if there is an offer to settle and the defendant and the insurance company refuse that offer, then if the verdict is larger than then offer or the policy limits then the insurance company may have to pay the higher number (the verdict)...

Here we go again.

Posted on February 28, 2008
One big verdict and you start seeing stories like this.  You have to dig deep into this article to see the reality:  Insurance Companies control trial tactics and settlement negotiations.  The insurance company in this case could have settled this case for $2 million...

New York Cerebral Palsy Settlement

Posted on February 27, 2008
This from a video report of a $2.4 Million dollar settlement in a case in New York.  The child suffers severe brain damage and the settlement should go a ways to help the family. Kelly Hunt-Force was born at corning hospital in 1998 with cerebral palsy...

Lawsuit filed to Challenge Texas Medical Malpractice Caps

Posted on February 26, 2008
The Malpractice Cap Law in Texas is just SO arbitrary.  Now, I don't believe that malpractice caps actually drive down insurance rates.  (That position is probably no surprise to anyone reading this as I am a plaintiff's lawyer) Here's the thing:   If you set caps at a hard number then all you do is cap the amount that insurance companies pay...

Patient Recieves a Cancerous Lung in Transplant

Posted on February 22, 2008
This from the Daily Pennsylvanian.  This lawsuit alleges that the hospital and doctors misrepresented the identity of the donor. Two years ago, Tony Grier received a pair of diseased lungs during a lung transplant at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania...

Anesthesia Malpractice Case Verdict in Illinois

Posted on February 21, 2008
On Thursday in La Salle County Circuit Court, a jury decided Adam Porter should receive nearly $24 million from a doctor and nurse practitioner in a malpractice case. The 34-year-old Streator man filed a lawsuit in May 2003 against Ephraim W. Batambuze, M...

Erb's Palsy Best Children's Hospitals

Posted on February 20, 2008
From the US News and world Report, we now have the best Children's Hospitals in America.  The top 4 were not really a surprise, they were in Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore and Denver. It's easier to just read the article at their website. Here's the link:  USNews...

Botox warnings

Posted on February 19, 2008
Botox has been used in Children to treat spasticity.  This recent news is something all parents should look at before considering using botox to treat spasticity in children with cerebral palsy. The Food and Drug Administration issued a warning that Allergan's Botox and Botox Cosmetic as well as Solstice Neuroscience's Myobloc have been linked to adverse reactions including respiratory failure and death, following treatment of a variety of conditions using a wide range of doses...

Pharmacy Mistakes: Overworked Pharmacists?

Posted on February 19, 2008
Month's earlier the pharmacist had asked for more staff.  Why?  To "decrease the pharmacist's stress" When Tabitha Jones picked up her stepson's medicine at a Walgreens store near Nashville in 2004, she had no way to know the pharmacy was so busy that its manager had asked for more staffing months earlier to "decrease the pharmacist's stress...

Large cerebral palsy verdict in Connecticut

Posted on February 11, 2008
The them for this case seems to be "Delay".  That is a common theme in cerebral palsy medical malpractice cases.  Often this is because it is the delay that causes the oxygen deprivation to the brain. This article states that this may be the largest verdict on Conn...

This is just not right. Mistakes like this should not be made

Posted on February 08, 2008
You just can't let this happen.  The hospital should have systems in place to protect against this.  The emotional trauma is extreme and heartwrenching. Here's the story. BY BRYON OKADAFORT WORTH -- A Johnson County couple filed a lawsuit Tuesday afternoon alleging negligence and gross negligence against Huguley Memorial Medical Center of Fort Worth following a July incident where hospital staff sent their newborn’s corpse to the cleaners with the dirty laundry...

This is just not right. Mistakes like this should not be made

Posted on February 07, 2008
You just can't let this happen.  The hospital should have systems in place to protect against this.  The emotional trauma is extreme and heartwrenching. Here's the story. BY BRYON OKADAFORT WORTH -- A Johnson County couple filed a lawsuit Tuesday afternoon alleging negligence and gross negligence against Huguley Memorial Medical Center of Fort Worth following a July incident where hospital staff sent their newborn’s corpse to the cleaners with the dirty laundry...

Emergency Room Wait times increasing

Posted on February 05, 2008
Tick Tock, Tick Tock.  Does it seem like it takes forever when you go to an emergency room?  You may actually be on to something there.  A study released recently shows that emergency room wait times are increasing. Emergency room wait times across the country increased 36 percent between 1997 and 2004, according to a Harvard study published today...

Doctor and Lawyer: Back and forth on tort reform

Posted on February 05, 2008
I was looking at an article on John Ritter's death today.  There was a lawsuit that followed alleging medical negligence.  As part of my research I came across this blog entry from another lawyer and went off on another tangent. There is a great point counterpoint that goes on in the comment section of this post...

Emergency Room Wait times increasing

Posted on February 05, 2008
Tick Tock, Tick Tock.  Does it seem like it takes forever when you go to an emergency room?  You may actually be on to something there.  A study released recently shows that emergency room wait times are increasing. Emergency room wait times across the country increased 36 percent between 1997 and 2004, according to a Harvard study published today...

Medical Injuries are worldwide

Posted on February 04, 2008
This from an article in Ireland.  A settlement in a birth injury case involving a failure to properly electronically monitor the labor as is progressed.  The result was severe cerebral palsy. Details were not disclosed except that it was substantial and the full amount claimed...

Profit or Charity. Virginia is deciding

Posted on February 03, 2008
The Virginia supreme court recently heard arguments about whether physician foundations could get immunity from medical malpractice lawsuits because of their charity work. The state Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday that pitted the rights of patients injured by negligence against the medical community's need to preserve its financial well-being in the face of growing indigent-care demands...

Profit or Charity. Virginia is deciding

Posted on February 03, 2008
The Virginia supreme court recently heard arguments about whether physician foundations could get immunity from medical malpractice lawsuits because of their charity work. The state Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday that pitted the rights of patients injured by negligence against the medical community's need to preserve its financial well-being in the face of growing indigent-care demands...

Southern California Brain Injury Settlement

Posted on February 02, 2008
An arbitration panel has awarded a $3.2 million verdict to a family. Kaiser Permanente is paying $3.2 million to a 14-year-old Lake Forest girl who wasn't breathing and suffered brain damage when delivered by Caesarean section. The birthing malpractice settlement was reached this month after a binding arbitration decision in favor of the family of Ariana Ehtemam...

Hep C patient given HIV drug instead.

Posted on February 01, 2008
Pharmacy errors are very dangerous.  That seems like an obvious statement, I know.  But here is a story I found that reveals what can happen when you are given the wrong drug. A liver transplant patient has sued New York University Medical Center for $2 million, claiming the hospital's pharmacy gave him medicine for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, when he tried to fill a prescription for hepatitis C medicine...

Twins - Delay in Delivery verdict

Posted on February 01, 2008
We had a case similar to this a few years ago.  The case we were involved with here in the United States where the second twin was delayed in his delivery resulting in a lack of oxygen and some fetal distress. This article out of the UK: A judge sitting at the High Court in London has awarded a boy who suffered brain damage after he was born nearly an hour after his healthy twin brother 2...

Southern California Brain Injury Settlement

Posted on February 01, 2008
An arbitration panel has awarded a $3.2 million verdict to a family. Kaiser Permanente is paying $3.2 million to a 14-year-old Lake Forest girl who wasn't breathing and suffered brain damage when delivered by Caesarean section. The birthing malpractice settlement was reached this month after a binding arbitration decision in favor of the family of Ariana Ehtemam...

Hep C patient given HIV drug instead.

Posted on February 01, 2008
Pharmacy errors are very dangerous.  That seems like an obvious statement, I know.  But here is a story I found that reveals what can happen when you are given the wrong drug. A liver transplant patient has sued New York University Medical Center for $2 million, claiming the hospital's pharmacy gave him medicine for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, when he tried to fill a prescription for hepatitis C medicine...

Twins - Delay in Delivery verdict

Posted on January 31, 2008
We had a case similar to this a few years ago.  The case we were involved with here in the United States where the second twin was delayed in his delivery resulting in a lack of oxygen and some fetal distress. This article out of the UK: A judge sitting at the High Court in London has awarded a boy who suffered brain damage after he was born nearly an hour after his healthy twin brother 2...

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