Northern Virginia Personal Injury Lawyer - Medical Malpractice - Most Popular

Former Doctor Suing HCA

Ben Glass — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 11:54:00 GMT

A former doctor from West Virginia who is currently faced with dozens of medical malpractice suits has filed a suit of his own against the former Putnam General Hospital.

The suit filed by John King also names Hospital Corporation of America, the former owner of the hospital, among other defendants.

King claims that the hospital had been paying surgeons bonuses for processing patients more quickly. The suit also claims that his surgical privileges were lost as retaliation for not investing in a physician’s business.

The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Nashville, Tennessee, where HCA is based.

HCA is the largest for-profit hospital chain in the U.S. It and Putnam General have already paid millions in settlements over the malpractice suits.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass

Verdict Against Remicade Manufacturer

Ben Glass — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 08:41:24 GMT

In the world of drug litigation, a jury in Texas ruled that Centocor Inc. negligently and fraudulently failed to warn doctors and consumers about potential side effects of Remicade and must pay almost 20 million dollars to a woman who claims she developed lupus as a result of using Remicade. Hamilton, et al. v. Centocor Inc., et al., No. 03-60526-4 (Texas Ct. at Law No. 4, Nueces Cty.).

In a 5-1 vote on Dec. 13, the Nueces County Court at Law No. 4 jury found that Centocor committed fraud against Patricia Hamilton and that she and her husband were harmed as a result. The trial lasted two and a half weeks.

The jury awarded Patricia Hamilton $3,365,908 in actual damages and $15 million in punitive damages. Thomas Hamilton was awarded $50,000 for loss of consortium and $1 million in punitive damages. Sources said the verdict is believed to be the first-ever involving Remicade.

Note from Virginia personal injury attorney Ben Glass: Remicade is a powerful drug. As with any powerful drug, it has the potential to have powerful side effects. A cursory Internet search found these sites mentioning the Remicade issues.

WebMD

Defective Drugs

Patient Experiences with Remicade

As with any drug, you should consult your physician. It also does not hurt to be a well-informed consumer.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass

Q & A - Can a Pregnant Woman File Suit?

Ben Glass — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 12:08:00 GMT

Q. A pregnant woman became concerned that her fetus was not moving and left several messages for her vacationing obstetrician. Because the woman’s calls were not answered, she eventually decided to personally go to the doctor’s office. If the baby was injured, would she be able to file suit?

A. In order for her suit to be successful, she would be required to prove that under the same circumstances, the average qualified physician would have handled the situation in a different manner, like having someone return her calls more promptly, preventing the injuries to the baby. Unlike criminal cases in which it is necessary for the prosecution to prove guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt,” in a civil suit, a person is only required to prove that the actions the defendant took were more likely than not to be the cause.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass

Cautious Charting Skews Medical Error Statistics

Ben Glass — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 12:20:00 GMT

Medical error statistics are skewed because of underreporting and cautious charting by medical personnel who have been taught to chart “defensively,” meaning that they chart with litigation in mind. Countless medication and other errors are made, and some have been charted as if they were administered or performed correctly. Many serious errors have been minimized in the charted account, or written in a manner that shamelessly places the blame on the patient or others.

A common example of making the patient a scapegoat is to label him/her as having “anxiety,” which effectively discredits both his/her judgment and recount of what was said or done while he/she was receiving medical care. This “diagnosis” will typically be added to a patient’s file if he/she displays annoyance or anger while dealing with a physician.

There are laws in place that protect “Incident Reports,” which document every detail of errors and accidents, from discovery. The intent of such laws was to encourage the person that made the error to give a complete and truthful account of what took place in order to learn how the incident came about.

This knowledge is intended to aid in decisions regarding how to make improvements or other changes to the appropriate systems or behaviors and reduce the chances of the error taking place again.

Incident reports have been barred from discovery in Virginia due to their potential value in elimination of errors if protected, and the potential for falsification of facts if they were available for use in litigation.

Identifying knowledgeable parties who are able to reveal this protected information through deposition could indicate which people, equipment, or supplies could have played a part in the victim’s injury.

Your right to receive compensation for medical malpractice, as well as the amount, is determined by a number of laws and factors, including:

• Statutes of limitations. You are required to file your claim within a specific time limit. The statute of limitations depends upon the type of claim and the claimant’s age, among other factors. An attorney can inform you of which factors apply in your particular claim.

• Plaintiff’s degree of fault. Did the injured party share any of the responsibility for his/her injury (for example, giving an inaccurate medical history)? Your contribution to the injury must be 50 percent or less to be eligible to file a claim for medical malpractice.

• Joint and several liability. These liabilities are taken into consideration when multiple defendants are involved and make all parties responsible for the full amount in the event of any or all of the others being unable to satisfy the judgment. Identifying any possible contributors to the malpractice event is critical to increasing your chances of being compensated.

• Limits on claim. There is no cap on the amount of a malpractice claim. However, some states may have factors that carry an additional impact.

• Other legal considerations. These can include periodic payments from other sources (such as insurance), immunity, and other laws and contributing factors.

With so many variables determining whether or not you are qualified to file a claim, you should consult an attorney early for evaluation.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass

Cerebral Palsy Award $38 million

Ben Glass — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 08:43:25 GMT

In Stamford, Connecticut, a city obstetrician has been ordered by a Superior Court jury to pay a family of a boy who was born with cerebral palsy in 2003. The verdict is believed to be among the largest awards for medical malpractice in the history of Connecticut, surpassing an award for $36.5 million against Hartford Hospital and an obstetrician in 2005.

On Friday, February 8, a jury ruled that a Caesarean section should have been performed more quickly by Dr. Corinne De Cholnoky during the delivery of Spencer Oram, whose umbilical cord was impeding the flow of blood to his brain.

According to Richard Silver, the Oram family's attorney, the boy now has cerebral palsy, even though his twin sister, born 27 minutes prior, is healthy. The family filed the case three years ago.

An attorney for De Cholnoky said that they plan to appeal the ruling. According to attorney James Rosenblum, the jury was overcome with sympathy which caused them to ignore proof that De Cholnoky had acted "reasonably, appropriately, and thoughtfully."

According to Rosenblum, he presented expert witnesses who testified that severe health problems may have been suffered by the baby while in the womb. Stamford Hospital and the medical staff there have been cleared of any wrongdoing.

Included in the award from the jury is $30 million to cover past and future costs to care for Spencer, approximately $7.5 million in compensation for Spencer's suffering, and $1 million to Spencer's parents.

Note from Virginia Medical Malpractice Attorney Ben Glass--had this case occurred in Virginia, the child and its family would have had its verdict cut to approximately $2 million, thus virtually guaranteeing that the state would have to take over the costs of the care for a long period of time. This verdict puts the cost of care where it belongs, on the careless doctor.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass

Virginia's "Tort Reform" Cap Robs Family of Nearly $1.15 Million

Ben Glass — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:30:00 GMT

There is a reason as to why some insurance companies in Virginia take every case to trial, which is illustrated in a recent wrongful death case.

Hector Alvarez, a 52-year-old Springfield resident, complained of chest pains and difficulty swallowing after a piece of steak had gotten stuck in his throat.

On July 6, 2006, Alvarez went to the Inova HealthPlex at Franconia-Springfield, where numerous tests were administered, including X-rays, an EKG and a CT scan of his chest. William J. Dunwoody III, a radiologist with the Association of Alexandria Radiologists, reviewed the CT studies. Based on Dunwoody’s computer notes, he was under the impression that Alvarez was suffering from a large hiatal hernia.

Around midnight, Alvarez was transported by ambulance to Inova Fairfax Hospital. On July 7, a surgeon reviewed Alvarez’s CT scan and noticed the perforated esophagus. Alvarez was immediately prepared for surgery to repair the esophagus. The surgeon also ordered an epidural catheter for Alvarez.

When the epidural catheter was inserted and the anesthetic applied, Alvarez went into cardiac arrest and later died on July 17, 2006. It is believed that Alvarez was extremely weakened from suffering from the perforated esophagus for almost 24 hours and wouldn’t have gone into cardiac arrest, if he wasn’t so sick.

In March 2007, Deborah A. Alvarez, Hector’s widow, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Dunwoody, the Association of Alexandria Radiologists and Fairfax Anesthesiology. Fairfax Anesthesiology agreed to pay $600,000 following a pretrial process. However, the Association of Alexandria Radiologists, which is insured by ProAssurance, did not make a settlement offer. ProAssurance is notorious for taking cases to trial and frequently not making a settlement offer before trial.

The Fairfax County jury awarded nearly $3 million to the family, but due to Virginia’s ludicrous “tort reform” cap on medical malpractice judgments, the award was cut by nearly half. The cap in 2006 was $1.85 million. This family was robbed of close to $1.15 million. A jury had listened to the evidence presented in the case for over a week and determined that $3 million would bring justice to the family.

In Virginia, a jury is never informed of the arbitrary cap on damages, making the work and time they put into each case to determine the appropriate amount largely wasted. Another case shows this fact, which involved a $4 million jury verdict to a woman, by the name of Rita Talbert, who was burned in an operating room fire. Due to Virginia’s “tort reform,” $2.25 million was stolen from this woman.

Virginia’s cap forces many medical malpractice cases to go to trial, because insurance companies know that they have little to lose, even if they are completely off in their projection regarding their chances of losing and the case value.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass

What is "informed consent"?

Ben Glass — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 05:17:00 GMT

Informed consent is a concept in the law that says that before rendering treatment a physician must use reasonable care to properly utilize you of both the risks and the benefits of the treatment. If a physician fails to advise you of both the risks and benefits of the treatment he may be liable to you for any damages caused by the treatment if you can convince the jury that had you known the full risks and benefits of treatment you would not have undergone the treatment.

Informed consent cases are usually pretty tough. Many times you are handed a form just before surgery that appears to be an "informed consent" form. Whether or not this form is adequate (and usually it's not) is up to a jury. In almost all cases the doctor will testify that he or she did have a full discussion with you of the risks and benefits of the proposed treatment. Therefore it becomes an "he said/she said" situation and these types of cases are almost always one by the doctor.

Only an experienced medical malpractice attorney in your area can help you determine whether you have a medical malpractice case paste on a claimed lack of "informed consent."

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass

Can you sue for what might have happened?

Ben Glass — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 05:14:00 GMT

Sometimes potential clients call us and complained that "if they had taken the medication that the pharmacist incorrectly gave them they would have become very sick." Since they did not take the medication because they noticed that it was the wrong pill, they did not get sick. They want to sue the pharmacist for what "might have happened." Is this a case?

The law demands compensation for careless acts that lead to real injury. A jury is not allowed to consider what "might have happened" but can only consider in their verdict damages that they believe actually flowed from the alleged negligence and damages that expert testimony establishes will probably happen in the future. It simply does not matter what "might have happened" had you not been smart enough to figure out that the pharmacist had filled the wrong medication.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass

Waiting Until The Last Minute to File a Virginia Medical Malpractice Suit Isn’t a Great Idea

Ben Glass — Tue, 25 May 2010 16:41:00 GMT

So many medical malpractice attorneys will wait until the last minute to file a lawsuit with the hope that the insurance company will settle without going to court. In my opinion, this isn’t a great practice.

There are some valid reasons for delaying the filing of a lawsuit, but waiting for the purpose of settling with the insurance company outside of court doesn’t always work out. In fact, it can be very risky.

I have heard of countless cases where lawyers delayed filing the suit, only to later discover that they named the wrong defendant or someone else was at fault.

The problem associated waiting until the last minute is even worse for out-of-state attorneys. When they can’t reach a settlement with the insurance company, they often end up panicking and rushing to find a local Virginia medical malpractice lawyer to help them. I receive a lot of these calls and I reject them right away.

The way my law firm approaches medical malpractice cases is that we file the lawsuits before the negotiations commence. I have found this to be effective because if we can’t settle, we already have a trial date scheduled and can move forward with our case.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass

Mary Washington Hospital Settles Five Malpractice Cases

Ben Glass — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 08:57:49 GMT

According to an article in the TimesDispatch Mary Washington (Fredericksburg) Hospital has settled five of nine medical malpractice lawsuits filed against it after patients were injured or died after receiving allegedly contaminated heart surgery medication.

This doesn't end this very sad story as two defendants, Central Admixture Pharmacy Services Inc. and B. Braun Medical, the pharmaceutical service's parent company, remain in the case.

Nine patients or their families each sued the defendants for $5 million in connection with cardiac (heart) surgeries performed in 2004 or 2005. Four lawsuits are still pending.

The lawsuits allege that Central Admixture mixed, manufactured, tested, inspected and sold cardioplegia solution in an "unreasonably dangerous" and negligent manner. Cardioplegia is a drug solution that paralyzes the heart during cardiac surgery.

The families were represented by Stephanie Grana of the Richmond, Virginia, law firm of Cantor Arkema.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass