Medical Malpractice

• $350,000.00 settlement for fall in assisted living center.

  Ben Glass | April 24, 2007 1:20 PM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  According to published reports,in this case in the southwest part of Virginia, an 87 year old assisted living resident fell and suffered hip and elbow fractures while walking from her bed to the bathroom. Prior to the fall she had been independent in walking at the time of the fall and for the prior five years while she was a resident of the facility. Her case settled for $350,000.00.Lawsuits...

• The "Final" Verdicts You Don't See

  Ben Glass | April 10, 2007 8:22 AM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  Every once in a while you undoubtedly read about a verdict that seems too large, at least on the limited facts that appear in most newspapers.Often times these "runaway" verdicts start up a new round of calls for "reform."The truth is that the legal system already has in place methods for verdicts to be reduced by the person in the best place to make a judgment, the judge.This happened recently...

• Ohio Moves the Ball Forward, Virginia Still in The Dark

  Ben Glass | March 22, 2007 5:34 PM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  My friend Ohio Personal Injury Attorney Chuck Boyk has a great post about a terrific new medical malpractice decision from OHIO.It seems that Ohio has expanded the time that parents of minors have to fill a "loss of consortium" claim for injuries suffered by their children by medical malpractice. This is a lot better than Virginia for a lot of reasons:First, in OhioGenerally, children have until...

• New York Makes is Harder to Get Some Personal Records

  Ben Glass | March 17, 2007 2:27 AM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  All too often the insurance defense attorneys go on a "fishing expedition" in a medical malpractice case to try to find "dirt" in a patient's past medical records.Attorney Eric Turkewitz explains how, in New York, an appellate court has just made it a little more difficult for the fishing expedition to take place. Now, there must be an initital showing of a compelling need for some records,...

• Oklahoma Supreme Court Throws Out Medical Malpractice Affidavit Requirement

  Ben Glass | March 14, 2007 8:38 AM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  Virginia medical malpractice law requires that before serving a medical malpractice lawsuit on a Virginia doctor the plaintiff or his attorney must have in his file a signed "Certification of Merit" from an expert witness that says, in effect, that the case is valid. The Oklahoma Supreme Court has recently thrown out a similar requirement in that state on the basis that the requirement,...

• Preventing Medical Malpractice

  Ben Glass | March 12, 2007 7:08 AM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  Here's an interesting list of malpractice prevention tips from a doctor's blog. I happen to agree with this list but believe most doctors will never go for it.Look at #2, for example: Giving the patient a detailed record of the visit before they leave the office. when you leave the car repair store what do you get? A list of everything they did as well as a list of recomended services. Most...

• $1.9 MILLION VERDICT FOR SHOULDER DYSTOCIA IN VIRGINIA BABY

  Ben Glass | March 12, 2007 6:06 AM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  A Virginia Beach Circuit Court jury deliberated 30 minutes before returning a verdict of just under $2 million against a physician at Chesapeake General Hospital. The plaintiff alleged that the obstetrician mismanaged the baby's shoulder dystocia by applying excessive traction to the baby's head resulting in an Erb's palsy. The baby suffered a serious injury including avulsion of nerve roots...

• Wonder Who Was Calling the Shots in this Case?

  Ben Glass | March 08, 2007 4:30 PM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  Some Florida doctors who lost a case to the tune of over $100 million are now suing their defense attorneys, for turning down a chance to settle for $1.5 million.A Tampa Website has the full storyIt would be really interesting to climb into the defense and insurance file in this case. If it's like any in the Washington, D.C. area recently the insurance company was probably calling the...

• Prescription Errors Still Prevalent in Hospitals

  Ben Glass | March 08, 2007 5:35 AM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  You would think in this age of technology that we would have eliminated errors in filling prescriptions, especially when the filling is being done in the hospital. Not so. We are looking at a case right now involving a woman who, on her day of discharge, was given medications actually intended for a psychiatric patient. She questioned the nurse, who assured her that the drugs were for her.They...

• West Virginia Case to Challenge Malpractice Tort Reform

  Ben Glass | March 01, 2007 4:47 PM | 0 CommentsNorthern Virginia, VA

  The West Virginia Record is reporting an interesting medical malpractice case where West Virginia's requirement of a pre suit certificate of merit in malpractice cases is under challenge. As the District of Columbia moves towards requiring pre-suit notification to defendants and mandatory early mediation of claims, we'll all be following this W. Virginia case.The specific challenge raised is:...